Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

For those who are arguing that Apple should allow third party developers to have their own marketplace without Apple taking a cut, should:

- Ebay allow for a third party marketplace to exist without them getting a cut?

-PayPal, chase, stripe allow third party developers to offer up their own payment services without the respective companies take a cut?

Also by the same token, Amazon is a monopoly by taking a percentage fee and should allow competitors to sell on their platform without taking a listing fee. Is this not the same thing?

you’re comparing hardware to software which i don’t think is fair.

apple creates the marketplace, the OS, and the hardware.

it’s a much more complex issue which is more analogous to if windows required all users to use internet explorer, which we know is monopolistic.

there’s also much more friction switching software like stripe than hardware like your iphone

Hardware/OS != Software/App/Website

eBay and PayPal both have third party alternatives: simply going to a different website/app.

On iOS your only option is paying Apple $100/yr to do something similar.

A similar thing would be Google Chrome blocking access to PayPal servers because they didn’t get a 10% cut of all transactions.

I'm not sure why it's not the same. Apple could just sell the hardware. Here Apple is selling the hardware and providing a marketplace for apps. There is virtually no difference between the App Store and using the browser to buy things from Amazon. The argument is that Apple should provide the ability to sell things on the App Store with out a cut. Amazon by the same argument should be forced to do the same.

You can argue that Amazons web Shopping market share is larger than Apple's cellphone market share and should be subject to the same monopoly regulation.

The browser is the same exact thing. Apple does not prevent you from using the same banking, shopping, email services through the web.

I would agree with you except this is not what the lawsuit is about. It's very clearly about Epic Games ability to sell things without going through Apple in the App Store.

If the lawsuit is about installing any software you want on iOS, then you are right and my analogy is faulty.

my argument is consumers should be free to get apps from other sources than the app store. just like people can shop at ebay or amazon.

with apple, their hardware locks you into one choice for apps. i think we should be able to download any app directly from websites that make them

Just looking at the Ebay comparison.., it's not apples to apples (sorry).

A third party marketplace would be Etsy. Ebay can't stop you from going to Etsy.

Epic isn't trying to set up an app store on iOS (as they tried for Android!). They are trying to avoid using the platform payment system.

Ebay DOES have restrictions on payments![0] But you DO NOT have to use PayPal:

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/payment-policies/accepted...

And, Ebay doesn't charge exorbitant fees! 10% vs 30%.

I don't get how chase and stripe relate to this situation.

My view is that Apple deserves a cut, maybe even 30%, by giving you users and transactions of App purchases. Sure, even IAP, since its lower friction. But not allowing you to handle your own IAP IF YOU WANT or your own subscriptions or offer a different price based on payment method or link to where you CAN sign up or even mention WHY or that Apple is taking a huge cut is... basically extortion.

Fantastic! How do I play Fortnite and purchase V-bucks on the web?

Ofc they do. They have full control over the browser and severely limits functionality compared to every other browser.

But users can just install another browser, right? No, wrong again, cause Apple doesn't allow that. Every browser on iOS is basically safari with a different UI.

Apple distributes the app. They should be able to take a 30% cut for that if they wish.

However, my app has an unlimited subscription. Accepting payment for this is handled by Stripe. Once the app is on the users device, if a user subscribes to the unlimited plan, why should I have to pay 30% to Apple? They are not delivering that service in any way, shape, or form.

A better analogy would be that I buy a Nespresso machine on Amazon. Some of that goes to Amazon for facilitating the transaction and delivering it to me, some goes to Nespresso for actually making the device. Then I get a pod subscription from Nespresso. Amazon then says that because the machine was originally bought on Amazon, they are entitled to a 30% cut of that ongoing subscription price, even though the subscription is neither facilitated nor fulfilled by Amazon.

I think we can all agree that would be ridiculous. That is what Apple is doing.

Exactly this. Apple intentionally cripples MobileSafari to push developers to the App Store where they get 30%. They have contrived the whole system so that all roads lead to Apple getting their cut.

No other browser engines. No sideloading. No other app stores. No other payment processors in the App Store. There is no way out of their labyrinth.