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Apple knows they are not the best out there (for multiple reasons) and therefore Apple has to rely on strong arm tactics. It is really an indictment of the software quality in Apple's own retail software products. And apparently Apple knows this.
Yes, and now that I think about it my
Analogy is wrong. Kazaa was an illegal dubious service, here people would actually go straight to the developers website so I do think people would go and install it from there
 
Except that no matter how it is sliced it Apple disappeared tomorrow life would go on without missing a beat. That’s not the definition of essential. I’d argue convenient but not essential.
What’s essential?
 
Eh? No they don't..


Nintendo Switch
Microsoft Xbox
Sony Playstation
Meta Quest
SteamOS
LG's WebOS
All Smart TVs
Roku devices
Kindle
Tesla's Infotainment System

Even Samsung have been clamping down on anything outside of their own store and Google Play on their phones - according to Epic it's a 21 step to install their store so they're making it harder not easier on the so called "open platform"
You can load a game to PS, Switch, SteamDeck or Xbox through physical drive, same goes with books to Kindle.

Also, just because there some platforms does the same locked in app store like Apple means it's good? I don't get your point. It's all wrong, I would argue that if the biggest like Apple will be forced to allow third party all the other smaller ones will follow suit. Domino effect.
 
Apple just needs to cut it out.

They’ve already poked holes in the model they were using. Now is the time to be proactive and change the script.

All apps found in the official App Store need to come with a seal of approval like the old NES cartridges.

Then go on a campaign stating how imperative it is to use apps that have been rigorously, tested, and supported through Apple systems with the highlighted seal of approval.

That’s will not only will give users something to find comfort in, but also give developers a reason to boast about their apps and have some comfort in the fees they pay.

It’s only a matter of time when these open App Store start to litter the iOS phones with malware.

Once that happens, the seal of approval approach will snap back in their direction like a rubber band.

There’s no other way.
 


In a scorching ruling against Apple, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on Wednesday accused an Apple finance executive of providing false testimony under oath during the company's ongoing legal battle with Epic Games.

iOS-App-Store-General-Feature-Sqaure-Complement.jpg

The judge stated that Alex Roman, Apple's vice president of finance, gave testimony that was "replete with misdirection and outright lies" regarding when Apple decided on its controversial 27 percent commission fee for purchases made outside the App Store.

"Contemporaneous business documents reveal that on the contrary, the main components of Apple's plan, including the 27 percent commission, were determined in July 2023," wrote Gonzalez Rogers in her ruling. "Neither Apple, nor its counsel, corrected the, now obvious, lies."

The ruling is significant enough that Gonzalez Rogers is referring the case to a U.S. attorney for possible criminal contempt proceedings against both Apple and Roman.

The reduced 27 percent fee (down from Apple's standard 30%) was established after the 2021 Epic Games lawsuit ruling. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected claims that Apple operated a monopoly. However, she ruled that Apple's anti-steering conduct was anti-competitive, and ordered the company to allow developers to link to alternative payment methods outside the App Store.

Apple complied by creating a system where developers can apply for a "StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement" to direct users to external payment options. However, Apple still demands a 27% commission on these transactions made within seven days of clicking the link.

That's set to change though after Wednesday's ruling. The court now says Apple cannot collect any fee or commission for purchases that consumers make outside of an app, nor can it track, audit, or monitor consumer activity.

The judge didn't mince words in her assessment of Apple's behavior, writing that "Apple willfully chose not to comply with this Court's Injunction" and did so "with the express intent to create new anticompetitive barriers" to maintain its revenue stream.

"That it thought this Court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation," she added. "As always, the cover-up made it worse. For this Court, there is no second bite at the apple."

The false testimony appears to have particularly aggravated the judge, who said in her ruling that the alleged deception compounded Apple's original violation of the anti-steering injunction.

In a brief statement, Apple said: "We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court's order and we will appeal."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple VP Referred for Criminal Contempt After 'Outright Lies' in Epic Games Ruling
Hmmm... The exact same judge in her original ruling said "First, and most significant, as discussed in the findings of facts, IAP is the method by which Apple collects its licensing fee from developers for the use of Apple’s intellectual property. Even in the absence of IAP, Apple could still charge a commission on developers. It would simply be more difficult for Apple to collect that commission."

To now rule that Apple is being anti-competitive for doing the exact same thing that she recommended seems contradictory. And to call in willful non-compliance seems wrong.
 
It’s more like Apple is a town and the developers are the businesses. If Apple didn’t have independent developers creating apps for their platform, no one would live there. And we all know Apple makes a killing on its hardware anyway.
Well there's business and sales tax. There’s always a price to do business in someone’s space and that price always corresponds to the size of the business.
 
How much longer must the brand of Apple suffer under Tim Cook’s miserable performance? Software is in shambles, internal strife and turmoil, and now lying VP’s. Seriously, step down, Tim. Do the right thing.

As long as he is making the money he is staying put. And he is definitely making the money, he has made Apple a 3 trillion dollar corporation. Would it be the same if Jobs was still alive? I am not so sure.
 
I am kinda shocked at the amount of people still defending apple’s practices in this thread

I mean what would it take for those people to call apple out? If tim cook invaded a sovereign country perhaps?

A judge specialising in the tech industry has been absolutely scathing to Apple - when most legal judgements are dry and full of legalise.

Yet still some here are on Apple’s side. The mind boggles.
I don’t agree with this case ruling but I’m not shocked people here side with it. If you’re shocked then you’ve been completely ignoring / unwilling to try to understand the arguments people have been bringing up against it.
If it was so obviously wrong as it seems in your eyes then there would be no need for a case. The mindset of “everyone on the other side is completely illogical” is THE barrier to resolution.
 
I don’t agree with this case ruling but I’m not shocked people here side with it. If you’re shocked then you’ve been completely ignoring / unwilling to try to understand the arguments people have been bringing up against it.
If it was so obviously wrong as it seems in your eyes then there would be no need for a case. The mindset of “everyone on the other side is completely illogical” is THE barrier to resolution.
Putting aside any legal arguments - and I’m not a dev don’t know any , I’m just a consumer - what Apple was doing felt wrong ie trying to skim off profits off any activities in the App Store forever more.

I don’t bedgrudge them doing this in the early days but 10 years into the App Store was the time for them to give a little.

I think if this taken smaller reasonable fees that would’ve been ok.

Instead they’re in the position they’re in and all of their devs must despise them by now. Plus they lied in court.

It’s hard to see how they could’ve messed this up more than they could’ve done. And all for greed and a sense of entitlement.
 
Eh? No they don't..


Nintendo Switch
Microsoft Xbox
Sony Playstation
Meta Quest
SteamOS
LG's WebOS
All Smart TVs
Roku devices
Kindle
Tesla's Infotainment System

Even Samsung have been clamping down on anything outside of their own store and Google Play on their phones - according to Epic it's a 21 step to install their store so they're making it harder not easier on the so called "open platform"

I don't know where you're getting your information but installation of software is perfectly possible on the vast majority of those platforms.
 
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Ooof that's a bit naughty from Apple.

Now that ruling is fine, however consider this scenario.

The app is free in the app store - the only way to unlock the features is via a third party payment link which now Apple has to provide for free.

So who is going to charge for an app in the app store when they can take all the profit via their third party payment link.

There needs to be some kind of rule where by it's fine to use third party payment links without Apple taking a fee however you can't host a free app in the store and the ONLY way to active its features is via a third party payment link.

That would be like being able to setup in Target with your own stall for free and take a mobile payment handset with you to charge for anything you sell giving Target nothing.
You just made a great argument for alternative app stores 🤣
 
So? At some level electricity is not required, but only extreme (usually USA) libertarians would actually argue that electric utilities should be allowed to charge whatever they want.

Are we at the same point with smartphones and the web? Probably not yet, but I can see a day in the near future where it is kind of assumed that in a well developed society that smartphones are available to all and that they are regulated to ensure that competition on them is free and fair.
That is a strawman argument. Electricity is required for heating when it’s below zero outside.
 
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That is a strawman argument. Electricity is required for heating when it’s below zero outside.
No it isn’t, you can totally heat with wood, propane, etc… it’s not ‘required’ but like electricity, at some point we stop accepting that people should be expected to not have smartphones.

Edit; even if I were to grant that electricity is essential, it is still true that there was a time it wasn’t, and as time passed it came to be an expected part of modern life, smartphones are so ubiquitous that they too are becoming an expected part of modern life.
 
Putting aside any legal arguments - and I’m not a dev don’t know any , I’m just a consumer - what Apple was doing felt wrong ie trying to skim off profits off any activities in the App Store forever more.

I don’t bedgrudge them doing this in the early days but 10 years into the App Store was the time for them to give a little.

I think if this taken smaller reasonable fees that would’ve been ok.

Instead they’re in the position they’re in and all of their devs must despise them by now. Plus they lied in court.

It’s hard to see how they could’ve messed this up more than they could’ve done. And all for greed and a sense of entitlement.
Greed and entitlement can almost always be argued for both sides of a money dispute. I don’t know what the fair fee amount is, I don’t know all the ins and outs of all the details and all the angles. I think these situations are so complicated that no one person can honestly know what exact amount is fair, and that’s why the free market is supposed to decide. But I do know (in general) if someone builds a space, then they should receive payment from everyone who does business in their space. And if it’s not a continual payment, then they are de-incentivized from upkeep and improving the space, and bringing in more customers and other businesses (some people may say Apple doesn’t do those things anyway, but cut the fees too low and we may see things get worse). Forcing builders to give away the space to businesses may also de-incentivize future builders from building new spaces.

But I mostly leave that money fight to developers and Apple to hash out. On the other hand, legally forcing open Apple’s closed ecosystem business model is an issue that I have a direct stake in as an Apple customer, as it may have consequences that negatively affect me. But this is a whole other area of debate.

But I should say, I do not condone lying in court. If they are found guilty of that, then I approve of punishment for it.
 
From all accounts, it's not that Apple hasn't spent tons of money on Siri and improving it, it's that all the money has been wasted as Siri failed to advance in the way Apple hoped. Apple made a strategic business decision behind spending the money to improve Siri because they wanted a better system. They failed at that goal.
I’m sure all of that money and effort wasn’t spent on this, but I remember reading just how proud they were that they changed “Hey Siri” to just “Siri”

Maybe that’s a monumental accomplishment—I have no idea. But it can’t have been on many Siri user’s top five lists as things they’d like to see.
 
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I’m sure all of that money and effort wasn’t spent on this, but I remember reading just how proud they were that they changed “Hey Siri” to just “Siri”

Maybe that’s a monumental accomplishment—I have no idea. But it can’t have been on many Siri user’s top five lists as things they’d like to see.
All of that screams a problem, a lack, of leadership. True leadership. Apple is a cult of toxic positivity by all accounts. Only dissenting allowed is C level and above. And as we see, they ignored Shiller and did a boneheaded thing anyway
 
Greed and entitlement can almost always be argued for both sides of a money dispute. I don’t know what the fair fee amount is, I don’t know all the ins and outs of all the details and all the angles. I think these situations are so complicated that no one person can honestly know what exact amount is fair, and that’s why the free market is supposed to decide. But I do know (in general) if someone builds a space, then they should receive payment from everyone who does business in their space. And if it’s not a continual payment, then they are de-incentivized from upkeep and improving the space, and bringing in more customers and other businesses (some people may say Apple doesn’t do those things anyway, but cut the fees too low and we may see things get worse). Forcing builders to give away the space to businesses may also de-incentivize future builders from building new spaces.

But I mostly leave that money fight to developers and Apple to hash out. On the other hand, legally forcing open Apple’s closed ecosystem business model is an issue that I have a direct stake in as an Apple customer, as it may have consequences that negatively affect me. But this is a whole other area of debate.

But I should say, I do not condone lying in court. If they are found guilty of that, then I approve of punishment for it.
Agreed, Apple put all of the investment and work into building the platform, others aren’t entitled to benefit from all of that work and investment for free. It would be like arguing that Walmarts must allow other store companies to use space in their store locations for free. It just makes zero sense… This is Apple’s platform, Apple’s property, and they have every right to require rent for leasing space…

And as to the accusations of lying, they’re likely unfounded. This judge seems very biased. Also, even if it’s a half-true claim, I doubt it would have been purposeful, probably a case of mixed up records or a legitimate mistake. I doubt Apple would purposefully lie in court so that they could get into trouble over it. But personally, I’m not sure they even made an honest mistake in that regard, I think the judge is just biased and trying to go after them however they can…
 
Hmmm... The exact same judge in her original ruling said "First, and most significant, as discussed in the findings of facts, IAP is the method by which Apple collects its licensing fee from developers for the use of Apple’s intellectual property. Even in the absence of IAP, Apple could still charge a commission on developers. It would simply be more difficult for Apple to collect that commission."

To now rule that Apple is being anti-competitive for doing the exact same thing that she recommended seems contradictory. And to call in willful non-compliance seems wrong.
Exactly. This judge seems very biased and contradictory. I think she just wants to try to ride headlines, as if making up crap like this will enhance her career…
 
Why do people bother staying in an Apple fan forum if they just want to constantly trash on Apple…
Some of us are long-time fans, old enough to remember why it was we stayed with Mac even in the dark days of the early 90s. Apple set the bar high and aren't living up to that. People care about this company because of their philosophy when it comes to technology. I despise where Apple is going so my criticism is framed based on the level they proved they can execute on. This ain't it
 
Some of us are long-time fans, old enough to remember why it was we stayed with Mac even in the dark days of the early 90s. Apple set the bar high and aren't living up to that. People care about this company because of their philosophy when it comes to technology. I despise where Apple is going so my criticism is framed based on the level they proved they can execute on. This ain't it
Many of the people I see in this thread, all I see is complaining constantly about Apple. That’s what people go to the Windows/Android forums for. This is an Apple fan forum. I’m sick and tired of all the complaining, I think it’s actually more obnoxious than the complaining in Windows and Android forums… If these people are “longterm fans”, then maybe they should share more positivity rather than constantly trashing Apple every single little thing that pops up… 🙄🤦🏼‍♂️
 
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