Welp, off to the next cash grab from this dev. Hopefully he just fades away for good (yes I'm salty, I bought lifetime a day before he turned it off and I was never given my refund).
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Juno YouTube App for Vision Pro Removed From App Store
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I was waiting patiently for this day where justice is served. I can’t believe corporations have continued to allow this guy to build apps that leeches off their backend services and steal a slice of the pie.
It’s not a coincidence that he got banned for Apollo and yet he immediately proceeds to build an illegal youtube client. Leeching is very much his thing. Out for a quick buck and then begs users to not request for a refund. Disgusting.
I don’t understand why comments like these are getting downvoted. If you build an app around someone else’s service, you have to play by their rules, however arbitrary they may be. It’s never going to be guaranteed from one day to the next that you’re going to be allowed to continue publishing the app or using the necessary APIs. All-in-all, if you want to ensure a continued revenue stream from your app, building around another service is NOT the way to go, and Christian has little sympathy from me the more this ends up happening to him.
Absolutely agree. I paid for Juno and I use is often. It’s easily worth what I paid.
It always surprises me when people who spent a lot of a Vision Pro complain about an app that cost more than $4 or $5. They don’t seem to want to pay anything for high quality apps and then wonder why developers don’t release high quality apps for the platform.
You do not want to encourage stealing. This is exactly what happens when people like you do that. He proceeds to build a YouTube clone for a quick buck.
Now that it got banned. What’s next? How about a MacRumors app that loads the front page?
It gets downvoted because that guy has successfully achieved cult status. Cult followers aren’t known for their logical thinking.
I browse Macrumours primarily via Tapatalk (and am also a paid Macrumours member, so you can’t accuse me of robbing them of ad revenue).
And I also get my fill of Macrumours front page news via a variety of other sources, from mastodon (an Ivory client) to reeder (an RSS app) to MacHash (an app which aggregates all Apple News). So the reality is that people already are doing this.
If he can create an app which provides a genuinely better user experience than the original app itself, I don’t see why not.
Isn’t it funny that the people calling for Apple to open up their platforms so that other developers may freely access them are also the ones calling for platforms like Reddit and Twitter to be even more locked down and exclusionary?
Well, I guess I am a sucker for a great user experience, and I will continue to support such experiences in the only way I know - through my wallet. 🫡
Reddit took the note from Elon Musk, who killed the 3rd party Tweeter clients with exorbitant API fee several months earlier.
The 3rd party apps like Tweetbot and Apollo helped these companies grow.
The lesson in all this? Don't make 3rd party apps that duplicate the functionality of the 1st party app, even if you can do it much better.
Great. Let’s give up all of our rights and burden our lives with unlimited obligations from governments and corporations. That’ll work out well I believe.
Besides, “companies want to control their own service”? What? All they do is shutting down better apps one man can develop than an entire DEPARTMENT or CORPORATION is willing to splurge onto the platform. YouTube and Google has everything to be blamed and Christian has done nothing wrong. If YouTube wants to “control their own service”, release their own damn ad-bloated YouTube app for Vision Pro.
Incorrect on multiple levels.
Firstly, per the article, Christian stated many months ago that he had no intention to fight Google on this and made no indication that he “doesn’t like” the situation. He filled a gap that Google refused to fill due to corporate squabbles over platforms. And when Google didn’t like his implementation, he worked to solve for that with a web view that doesn’t use their API calls period. It’s a stretch to call it an “abuse“ to create a web container.
Second, applications by definition ”ride” on the success of larger platforms. Apple devices are the only reason that many companies you know and probably use today even exist. Heck there are even companies like Motion VFX who rely on the existence of Final Cut. They aren’t revenue sharing with Apple. Apple has just made it easy for people to build something that plugs into their application. As a result a thriving community of plugins was spawned. It’s like ”success riding” inception in these parts!
He didn’t just pocket the £££. Reddit provided a free and public API. Reddit chose to do that. Apollo wasn’t founded on some nefarious use of Reddit’s tech stack. Countless developers chose to build products with said free API.
Reddit could have provided pricing that scales appropriately, reasonably and proportionately. And in a way that wouldn’t bankrupt the rich ecosystem of third party clients. Such a move might have (at the very least) enabled a subscription model to be viable for third party apps. But alas that’s a different debate. It’s worth mentioning that Reddit’s failed attempts to build a mobile app resulted in them buying Alien Blue and rebranding it as official. Ironic that their own app wouldn’t exist without smaller developers “riding on their success”.
I don’t think anybody made the argument that third party apps shouldn't follow Reddit‘s policy on API calls. It‘s also more than reasonable for Reddit to monetise the API. The problem was making those calls so extortionately priced that it effectively priced out third party software. The very software that helped build Reddit into the success it is today. But again, that’s an entirely different conversation.
On that I agree. It is their prerogative. And I for one am glad that somebody attempted to fill that gap. As a Vision Pro user, my experience of owning it has been made far better for having Juno. Considering Juno is essentially a web browser for YouTube, wherein YouTube ads are still shown in videos and Google keeps its cut, it’s a curious decision. One for the philosophers.
Of course Reddit can change their policy. But they can’t “demand” anything from anybody. This isn’t a ransom situation and it isn’t how commerce works. They can “offer” to sell access to their API. Which they did (and handled it terribly) and the rest as they say is history.
Can’t believe people are attacking the developer here. YouTube made it clear there’s not gonna be a YouTube app for the Vision Pro so someone got one out there for anyone who wanted it. The app still works and if it stops working someday it’s still $4.99 well spent. Why not direct your anger at Google and the system that allows these companies to control every aspect of your life?
What you talking about ? He’s living the American dream. 😂
Apple and Google need to be stopped. These EU defined gatekeepers are anticompetitive bullies. I really wish you the best. And I think we all need to band together to make it so developers around the world don’t have to follow the whims of gatekeeper companies that aim to stop competition and countries who do nothing but embolden the beasts. Really love the EU looking out for users, developers and so on. Wish the USA wasn’t such a corporate loving country with politicians making more money by doing what the companies want rather than what the people want.
When I buy a device, I should be able to install whatever I want on it!
Huh? Countless other companies made it work. I use Narwhal and it's 3.99 for unlimited... cheaper than Reddit Premium. Christian could have made it work, but his pride prevented that.
I fully support indie developers and their products, but it almost feels like a bait-and-switch scheme to build on top of other companies' resources without any contract or agreement, knowing full well that the product will be blocked and de-platformed. Then for the 3rd-party developer to feign surprise and act as though they should be absolved of the responsibility of providing customers with respite, just because they meant well.
What does Apple even have to do with this? And this issue is with YouTube as a platform, not with Google or Apple as gatekeepers. 🙃
Sorry I should have been a bit clearer and stated “third party apps of scale” as I recall Narwhal stayed operational due to its smaller size. The problem was the scale of Apollo. Apollo had over 50,000 active users and Reddit‘s pricing ladder wasn’t structured in a way that made economic sense for Apollo or several other large Reddit clients to operate without a very expensive monthly sub. Thanks for the reminder of Narwhal, one to check out!
or just stop using the services you don't like. the more people that leave Reddit/YouTube, the better the chances of competition stepping up to take over.
if you keep using the service you don't like, you are part of the problem of why these corporations can continue abusing the power they have.
I don’t understand how your argument can morph from “third party apps are stealing from giant corporations” to “you don’t have to use their services if you don’t like it”.
And yeah, I have stopped visiting Reddit and Twitter, for what it’s worth. To me, their apps were the service.
That said, I have no illusions about the impact my actions will have, but let it not be said that I am not not willing to put my money where my mouth is.
Don't see the relevancy.
So he admits he went against the terms initially.
Random guess.
Because it's allowed? Again don't see the relevancy.
And Reddit changed the policy to which they have every right to do so.
It's their service. They're allowed to charge whatever they see is right and the market will respond by opting in or opting out.
It's more along the lines of "Reddit should charge what *I* think is reasonable". That to me is ridiculous. It's up to reddit to decide the price, not anyone else.
Content for AI training is priced in. Blame AI for sky high prices, not Reddit.
Arguable and yes, different conversation.
Again, they set what they think is right and market will respond accordingly.