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Apple has a very interesting approach to these type of app monopolies.

It "nationalizes" the monopoly app by creating a generic version of the same app.

The problem is, the generic app versions are exceptional in that they have much deeper access to the phone than a traditional independently built App Store app.

Seems unfair.

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Apple aren't interested in an even playing field, this type of muscling in is possible by design. There's a risk they'll turn developers off their platform, but providing they don't piss off too many at once, barely anyone will notice.

App doesn’t care if you use a Notes competitor or not. What they care about is Rescue Time is using persistent location when it doesn’t need it. Lest people forget, Apple makes money from the App Store and doesn’t directly make money from Screen Time. Considering this an Apple conspiracy is ridiculous. Otherwise, why allow Fantastical or Bear or any number of apps that compete with Apple’s own?

This case is because of the performance implications of persistent background location services, not because it competes with Apple. That logic makes no sense anyway since Apple makes money from this app! And, admittedly, similar apps haven’t been blocked, so clearly this isn’t a business “strategy” but one of technical implementation.

Because Apple would lose all of the money they are making from the Screen Time app...

I mean both iPhone and Android do this but Google won’t pull competitors.

Even if the did, we can still sideload apps by sending the apk to the phone and installing it. No root/jailbreak needed.

Google also does not prevent Alternative App Stores, or Sideloading.

For example I use FDriod as much as possible only using the Play Store to get the few non-open source apps I use

> It "nationalizes" the monopoly app by creating a generic version of the same app.

Out of curiosity: Is there a generic version of RescueTime?

> The problem is, the generic app versions are exceptional in that they have much deeper access to the phone than a traditional independently built App Store app.

This is what Microsoft allegedly did with Office. Sysinternals' Mark Russinovic documented that so called "Native API" in the late nineteens. Of course the pages are all gone since Microsoft bought Sysinternals but they are still in archive.org[1].

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20040630004415/http://www.sysint...

EDIT:

Latest working snapshot is from 1 Sept 2006:

https://web.archive.org/web/20060901032614/http://www.sysint...

Every single application built since the dawn of OOP has public documented methods and private methods....

In this case, the allegation is that the OS itself had private APIs which Office used, while other apps had less access to because they were not documented. (Let’s not forget, private API can still be discovered and called, especially on Windows 95 and NT).

But not for App Store apps, unless you’d like your binary to be rejected.

Yes, of course. I meant at the time of Windows 95 and NT. It's much worse now on Apple's App Store.

It’s actually better. Using private undocumented methods leaves one or two alternatives. Either Apple will have to put in bespoked hacks for software when they decide to make changes like Microsoft does or applications will break with every release and then OS upgrades will get a reputation for being buggy.

I don't see any mention of Office on the page you linked?

No it doesn't mention MS Office by name. What is says is:

>Thoughts along these lines usually lead to the Native API conspiracy theory: Microsoft is keeping the API for themselves and their own application to unfair advantage.

From my memory of the discussion back then I think "their own application" was understood as mainly MS Office. The back this up bit more the Analysis of the Inadequacies of Microsoft [1] by the DOJ specifically mentions "the Internet Explorer browser, and Office in desktop applications".

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20080625000937/http://www.consum...

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