It seems something to add to this website https://timetoplayfair.com/timeline/
I am not defending Apple’s practices, I just find the omission on a website called “time to play fair” sweetly ironic.
[1] Not sure if "fee" is the correct term, but it's certainly not a tax, because those are issued by governmental organizations by definition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax).
They're an absolutely terrible company, and are actively ruining something I love which is general purpose computing with the user as owner. Fuck Apple.
> Us: "Hey Apple, we love your watch; can we make an app for that?" Them: "nah
The first Apple Watch was slow, and didn’t have any real third party apps at all. They were basically all running on the phone and displaying things slowly on the Watch.
> Apple rejects Spotify's proposal for an Apple Watch app yet again (2016)
This was before the cellular watch came out. How much good would any streaming service be with wifi only? Even then, for battery saving reasons, the Watch really preferred Bluetooth to communicate with the phone
> This app update means that rival apps have to agree not to “directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than IAP or discourage the use of IAP.”
No retailer is going to let a company advertise how to buy products cheaper somewhere else.
> Apple finally allows enhanced functionality for the Spotify app on the Apple Watch (2018)
And it took Spotify over two years to support streaming music from the Watch.
And now they introduce their own “podcast player” that can’t play podcasts - ie audio hosted on a server where I can subscribe to a RSS feed.
I can't , but I am free to create a phone and OS first, bundle my app in and compete with Apple like this... so the better Siri will not happen , users suffer a lower quality app and will ignore Siri because is garbage, only Apple wins.
I'll instead ask- what has Spotify actually done to stay competitive in streaming music since being founded in 2006? Apple has actually innovated in this space and frankly has a much stronger offering today despite launching 9 years later (higher stream quality, spatial audio, more money to artists, larger library). I won't claim Apple is perfect by any means, but Spotify really doesn't garner my sympathy either as the company who's chief "innovation" has been trying to snuff out independent podcasts and lobbying the EU for protectionism.
The music industry will always get 70% of revenue for streaming music. The video streaming services for the most part negotiate a fixed cost license and then as they grew, they could theoretically spread the cost.
Of course every OS has “private functionality” that is not exposed to untrusted third party apps. Do you want every application to have root level access to your device? The private enclave?
Apple usually dog foods any new APIs before making them public. Once you make an API public, you’re stuck with it warts on all. Apple can also do things in ways that would be insecure for third parties to have access to.
For instance, in iOS 2 (?) Apple had an internal app extensions framework and in the US, was hard coded to support Facebook and Twitter.
A few years later, Apple had extensions framework where the extension was in a separate process for security and opened it up.
It took years for Apple to come up with a decent Siri intents framework for any third party and still Spotify took years to support all of the features that they complained about after Apple implemented the APIs.
Nobody is mad about iOS existing or using custom entitlements. Nobody is mad about the App Store existing or charging 30% on top of most IAPs/transactions. Nobody is angry at Apple for shipping Safari by default, or even for loading up iOS and MacOS with uncontrollable telemetry.
We're mad that we don't have options. Apple has no reason to arbitrarily limit our options besides personal profit, which is something they objectively do not need. That's what people are going to bring up during antitrust hearings, and it's the stuff you can't refute with "oh muh security". Apple is a hardware vendor that uses their status to abuse the software market, much like Microsoft did with the early web before they were brought to heel by antitrust hearings. The writing is on the wall for Apple, private entitlements or no they're headed straight to the hot-seat.
Sure you do, you have the same option that 70% of mobile users exercise - buy an Android device.
> much like Microsoft did with the early web before they were brought to heel by antitrust hearings
This is another false trope. Absolutely nothing happened in the US as a result of the anti trust trial with respect to Microsoft bundling IE with Windows. There was no forced unbundling, no “browser choice” nothing.
> That's what people are going to bring up during antitrust hearings
Those same arguments landed with a big thud during the Epic vs Apple trial.
I didn't buy an Android device, though. I bought an iPhone, and Apple is the one limiting the software I run on it. It's a closed case: Apple does not deserve the right to dictate what software people run on the devices they own. There is no degree of apologism that refutes this.
> Absolutely nothing happened in the US as a result of the anti trust trial with respect to Microsoft bundling IE with Windows.
They were still found guilty though, and the only reason they escaped prosecution was because they appealed and instead seeked a settlement under similar terms: https://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/file/504276/downlo... (page 10).
Their settlement involved the explicit forced sharing of APIs and internal technology (in Apple's case this would be software management).
> the Epic vs Apple trial.
And in fairness, so did Apple's. They used this as an opportunity to subpoena half the industry, and all it revealed is that Apple is in a class of their own when it comes to control over what users are allowed to interact with. Maybe it didn't hit a boiling point with Fortnite, but few things do. At least we have the EU to slap Apple around when they make silly mistakes like the Lightning port.
So you bought a device using your own free will that didn’t meet your needs even though there was an alternative? That’s like someone buying a Tesla and complaining they can’t use gas to power their vehicle.
> Apple does not deserve the right to dictate what software people run on the devices they own. There is no degree of apologism that refutes this
A real judge disagrees with you…
> Their settlement involved the explicit forced sharing of APIs and internal technology (in Apple's case this would be software management).
And that has nothing to do with browser bundling or the App Store. If a single App Store is illegal, that also means all of the console makers and TV smart OS vendors are acting illegally.
Also, today in 2022, Microsoft Office is just as dominant as it was in 2000.
> prosecution was because they appealed and instead seeked
And the “settlement” has nothing to do with browser bundling and in fact, they did release another platform - the XBox where not only were they the only store, even when you buy a physical game, they get a cut.
The device does meet my needs, it has a very capable ARM processor inside and a decent-looking screen. The only thing I need an alternative for is software, and Apple goes out of their way to prevent me from using software that respects my freedom as a user.
> that also means all of the console makers and TV smart OS vendors are acting illegally.
Ah yes, the tried-and-true "but look at [OTHER-INDUSTRY]" strawman. Console and smart TV vendors are not in the smartphone industry, much less even get treated as part of the computing industry. They're regulated as appliances, and if you think the regulation around that should change then I wholly recommend writing to your senator. You might even get me to co-sign it, too!
“yes the Tesla body frame meets my needs. But the battery I knew was bundled with it can’t use unleaded gas and I need to drive to rural areas where there aren’t any battery chargers available.”
> Ah yes, the tried-and-true "but look at [OTHER-INDUSTRY]" strawman. Console and smart TV vendors are not in the smartphone industry, much less even get treated as part of the computing industry. They're regulated as appliances
So consoles “are regulated as appliance” (no they are not regulated much at all) even though they are computers that are meant to serve one purpose. But the phone, which is a computer that is meant to serve one purpose is not an “appliance”.
Where are these “regulations” you speak of?
Are you claiming that Epic would have had no basis to sue console makers on the same grounds they sued (and failed) Google and Apple?
The fair example is if Tesla would only allow you to use Tesla electrons, from Tesla electric generators. I van put non Ford petrol or non Ford oil in my Ford. I could put my own browser in iOS and it would work just fine but some companies does not allow it, it is not a material thing like your ridiculous example, an IF statement prevents me to run the real Firefox on iOS. When an IF statement in Tesla will prevent you using non Tesla electrons then you can use your shit example.
When OP bought an iPhone on the box it did not said "only runs what Apple thinks is social correct and only what Apple thinks is not a financial risk for Apple".
That was an odd way to elide over the idea that a "retailer" can now stay in your pocket for 2-60 years and become a middleman to every financial transaction.
However, I have written a few Watch apps.
It’s quite difficult, and there are severe limitations, due (I suspect) to power-saving and limited display size stuff (in addition to all the private SDK restrictions, and privacy/sandbox safeguards that all Apple platforms have). The SDK is frustratingly hobbled, and the Watch, itself, wasn’t really (in my opinion) usable, until Generation 4. Nowadays, I see them everywhere (but I live in a fairly affluent area, so I see Apple kit all over the place).
I can’t imagine hybrid apps (like Ionic or React Native) working on the Watch, so it needs to be done in native Swift and/or ObjC. There’s actually a dearth of true native developers (I am one, and find it difficult to connect with others that I can talk to).
But we’re not talking about a fly-by-night startup - Spotify has a good deal of resources and the requirements for their application are pretty straightforward. Yet every single time I use it it fails in some stupid, unintelligible way. It has a couple of very obvious race conditions in the UI, and it took years to get to this state. I have some sympathy for the difficulty of the implementation but at this point it’s a bit of a joke.
We can't assume that communications will happen in realtime. Even Apple's apps have some weird lag, and unpredictability. It's far better on the newest Watches. I've watched it improve, over generations (I currently have an 8, but my earliest one was a 2).
Any app that requires realtime sync with the phone is gonna have issues (I have tried writing them, and learned this, the hard way).
Surprisingly, not entirely straightforward. Source: working at Spotify.
Should the app be better? OF COURSE. But the scenarios it can be used in can be weird and complicated by legal matters.
If a user on free tier joins a group session over wi-fi at a friend's house, when the friend has premium subscription, what happens to queues, song skips, and what status is displayed on which devices? :) Note: even getting the device name is often tricky.
And there are hundreds of such use cases per device because different devices have different capabilities and limitations (on some devices you don't even have control over the UI presented to the user).
Without revealing too much, there's an ongoing work to make this stuff better, faster, more seamless, and from personal experience Spotify has been better across devices in recent years. But... It's still weird, brittle at times, and takes time to propagate to some devices and apps.
But it should get better (don't quote me on that :)) )
Most corporations, over a certain size, tend to develop an internal SDK/dependency, that needs to be reflected in all their software. This can bring all sorts of issues.
But the flip-side of that is that every single time I try to use this software—something I fork over money for every month—it fails in some baffling, opaque way. At that level it’s more of a management and prioritisation issue - this is exactly the sort of thing that is likely to make me throw my hands up and switch to an alternative.
It's weird that it actually fails in some ways, and constantly. But then, I myself use it only as a background music player during the week, and as a podcast player in my car, so I definitely don't use it in a variety of scenarios.
> At that level it’s more of a management and prioritisation issue
Actual failures are tracked and prioritised. Sometimes the fixes don't get propagated to all systems quick enough, or they are deprioritised because there's something that affects an even larger number of users (it could be anything from parity of features to bugs to certain behaviours).
https://www.engadget.com/2017-04-12-spotify-apple-watch-app....
Could that not also be used to describe Apple's business practices, who forces Spotify to charge higher prices on their platform? Or their move to block Epic Games from releasing their own software storefront? Or how they force people to use a single browser engine?
Petty grievances make the world go round, friend. If you want to throw stones at Spotify though, I should first warn you that your glass house is awfully fragile.
And you could also get a subscription at the lower price by going directly to Spotify. How is this any different than any other product that you can get at a lower price by going directly to the vendor?
Can I put my (hypothetical) music on Spotify without them getting a cut? Hell I can’t even subscribe to a podcast by entering the feed url manually with Spotify’s “podcast player”.
> Or their move to block Epic Games from releasing their own software storefront?
How did that work out on Android when they tried?
Apple shouldn't let developers waste my five grams of battery on inefficient apps which give a bad experience.
Not having charge at the end of the day is the definitive bad experience for a watch.
Now I'm going to go back to being annoyed that Apple won't let anyone else write a watch face, even if they do a good job.
Many do. I’ve bought plenty of products that, inside the packaging or via product registration, try to get you to use their first party store fronts.
I agree that nobody works allow you to advertise this on the packaging, but within the package is a different story.