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Comment on EU antitrust chief to Tim Cook: Apple must allow third-party app stores

Nobody is asking you yet. Once it becomes an option I guarantee some apps will decide that they’d prefer to use a third party store over the App Store and if that happens to be an app you use then you are essentially being asked to use other app stores.

This isn’t advocating for or against it, I’m just saying that if you think that this is purely additive and those who don’t want it can just not interact with it and get the same experience they have today then you’re being naive.

Regardless, it’s going to be interesting to watch. Smaller niche apps that don’t need discoverability will probably benefit, since if you need a niche app for something you’re probably prepared to put the effort into using a third party store. Large apps I suspect will go a hybrid model if they do anything at all (use both the App Store and a third party store, with the third party store having a lower price, although I guarantee it won’t be 30% less), and stuff in between will likely stay on the App Store unless there’s enough of a network effect to get enough users to a third party store to make it worth switching.

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Ross_audio@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
App developers are unlikely to take themselves off the Apple store it would remove themselves from a huge portion of the market they developed an iOS app for.

But they will find third party stores taking a smaller cut than Apple does. They will pass on some of that saving to the customer or find a way to encourage you not to use the Apple store if they get to keep a higher cut. Like earlier updates and feature releases.

That’s the point. Apple currently has a controlling monopoly on a market. Competition will lower prices for the consumer.

Anti-trust laws exist to do exactly this.

All it will take is a trustworthy company to launch a 3rd party app store. Then maybe you won’t mind.

Some companies like Cisco might just launch a store instead of putting their apps through Apple as they would like higher security than the App store provides.

Apple will also be forced into a competition to be the most secure app store too.

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- Drusenija@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  All it will take is a trustworthy company to launch a 3rd party app store.
  
  This really is the key to this being successful I think. Right now a lot of the nervousness around opening iOS is because of the fact that people (rightly or wrongly) trust and have a relationship with Apple.
  
  The people who are concerned about third party app stores really are worried about the implication of having to trust a new third party with their device, their payment details, their personal info, etc.
  
  Put someone reputable behind an alternative and it becomes an easier sell.
  
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chitak166@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

Nobody is asking you yet.

🥱

Are you a 🤡 or a 🧌?

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madis@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Well, do you see it happening on Android for any major app except Fortnite?

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- Drusenija@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That’s fair, and I admit it’s one possible outcome of all this. I just think that if the EU mandates that both Apple and Google have to support them that it’s going to shift the needle on it as the alternative infrastructure will be properly supported on every major platform. As you get that infrastructure, get payment providers in place to drive it all, the friction of switching will drop, which makes it a more appealing option for developers.
  
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