Mastodawn

@marcoarment probably, if history is any indication. Unless they are forced to - or believe there is no way they will escape being forced to in the extremely near future.

IMO it should be illegal to run an App Store like Apple’s (yes, also for game consoles). There should always be the option of going outside the “official system”. It’s MY phone.
If the App Store’s control is critical to the security or integrity of the system, then it should be illegal to charge for it.

@marcoarment I’ll be clear, it should not be legal for them to claim an ongoing revenue-dependant fee for access to their platform - unless the developer chose to use their full service system.

The iPhone model is immoral. Calling it a console (as @gruber has done for example) just makes it clear, that game consoles are similarly problematic - although the signicance to the wider economy and culture the smartphone has, makes the comparison a little ludicrous.

@agentjacob @marcoarment @gruber
Of course you all want the policies changed. From where you sit that would have a number of objectively positive outcomes (money, cust relationship, approvals, etc).

I just want the app store to be filled with GOOD apps, not garbage. I genuinely don't know what policy is most likely to generate the best customer outcome.

Is that sideloading? I don't know, maybe? But I do know that lots of unscrupulous devs will do sneaky shit, even if the good ones don’t…

@kraigschmidt @marcoarment @gruber for my part, I’m just a consumer. I just want it to be clear, that Apple doesn’t own the phone once they sell it to me.

@agentjacob @marcoarment @gruber
That is a very reasonable point of view, but what does that really mean at the end of the day?

With respect to software, and licensing etc, I feel like the horse has already left the barn? It started with consoles, but that model exists in a number of places, I think?

And honestly, I'm not convinced that Apple shouldn't take *more* control and take the app store ‘up-market’.

Because while good stuff *is* present, it is statistically overwhelmed by the dreck…

Jacob Andersen

@kraigschmidt @marcoarment @gruber By allowing side-loading they’d be completely free to do so. They could make the App Store the premium experience they pretend it is today.

They never would of course, because their bread is buttered by semi-scammy games selling in-app purchases to kids and bored people.

@agentjacob @marcoarment @gruber
I get what you mean by sideloading allowing them to make the App Store… more exclosuive. I would love it if ever did that!

But my impression is that's not how they think about sideloading, like, at all. Its easy to say its because of scammy subs, but that's too easy also.

I think there is a genuine belief that (whatever the faults of the current App Store) a freely open system (aka sideloading) like with PCs would be way way worse for MOST customers?

@agentjacob @marcoarment @gruber
Now, most people having this convo are NOT regular customers. Just by being on Masto, we are NOT regular customers.

And yes, that sentiment, however much good faith in which it may be held, is muddied by the corrupting revenue stream of scammy shit.

But all (or at least, more than one) of these things can be true at the same time…