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Comment by dijit | Hacker News Reader

If steam can charge 30%, why can’t Apple/Google?

> Netflix Inc. and video game makers Epic Games Inc. and Valve Corp. are among companies that have recently tried to bypass the app stores or complained about the cost of the tolls Apple and Google charge.

Valve appear to even be complaining about the 30% fee, that is _equivalent_ to their own fee.

You can release an executable that can run on Windows, Linux, or OS X without Steam. You can't release an executable that can run on iOS or Android without going through the App Stores.

I must admit I don't know about Apple, but you can download APKs for Android that are equivalent to an executable.

I don't know on recent iOS versions, but you could on previous versions with some security workarounds. If only GBA4iOS worked consistently...

Minor nit: You can on Android (for the latest most obvious example, see Fortnight), tho it does require a little extra work, but you cannot on iOS.

Yes you can(on android at least). Amazon store exits. F-Droid exists. Sideloading exists.

The issue is that the play store is shipped as the default and many people do not know there are other options.

I think the Android market is large enough that it could support a healthy second app market. The 30% pricing that Google is currently able to charge indicates the complexity of creating a new market - a successful market requires that consumers, app makers and phone manufacturers all act together.

This can be difficult since in the short term it's easiest for every market participant to just use the Play store. Creating a new market takes upfront $ and is a risky business.

How well did that work out back in the day? I am much more willing to trust that an app can’t do anything crazy on iOS because of the sandbox, on a PC, not so much.

Also the friction of buying is lower. I’m not going to put my credit card information in every random website. I will keep a credit card on file with Apple and just use my fingerprint to authorize the purchase.

Nothing is stopping you from downloading and installing software from a website on Android. There's an argument to be made that nobody actually does that, that shops can't afford not to publish in stores, and therefore it's not a real alternative, but then it would equally apply to Steam where a lot of people exclusively purchase games.

You can also try to have a popular video stream that isn’t on YouTube....

> You can't release an executable that can run on iOS or Android without going through the App Stores.

You absolutely can release Android apps without going through any app store, and if you go through an app store, it doesn't have to be Google's. There are different pros and cons for Google's store, handset maker’s stores (e.g., Samsung has their own), other stores (e.g., Amazon's), and direct distribution of your own apps without a store.

Steam shouldn't charge 30% either. And more and more games are having publishers, which often take %40+. It's harsh.

The underlying Windows platform still allows for external installs. And the other big names, EA and Ubisoft, already operate their own storefronts.

Android technically allows for the same, see the existence of f-droid for example, but the experience is less smooth (more dialogs to tap through) than when using Google Play.

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