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    Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

    (www.theverge.com)
    1704 points ardit33 | 12 comments | 13 Aug 20 19:03 UTC | HN request time: 0.604s | source | bottom
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    throwaway140820 ◴[14 Aug 20 04:16 UTC] No.24153297[source]▶
    Apologies for the extreme swearing that ensues.

    Wow, I would have hoped for better support from the HN community. Instead there are apologists after apologists. So what if Epic is big. Really, seriously shouldn't we have had alternative app stores available form the official ones. Why is this even a point of debate? All the time we hear stories of people one of our own getting fucked by these app stores and their lordship and now that we have an opportunity to make some noise, this is the response? Fuck that. Maybe we deserve these lords.

    Fuck your security and fuck your walled gardens. Fucking no alternative browser allowed. Fuck that, fuck you apple and fuck you google. Fuck your monopoly and chokehold on the devs.

    replies(25): >>24153305 #>>24153322 #>>24153323 #>>24153339 #>>24153354 #>>24153395 #>>24153400 #>>24153514 #>>24153554 #>>24153819 #>>24153823 #>>24153867 #>>24153888 #>>24154019 #>>24154102 #>>24154121 #>>24154241 #>>24154254 #>>24154261 #>>24154272 #>>24154353 #>>24154427 #>>24154531 #>>24154951 #>>24158174 #
    wmichelin ◴[14 Aug 20 04:19 UTC] No.24153322[source]▶
    I'm right with you. This is much worse than what Microsoft got in trouble for many years ago. They know what they're doing in wrong and I sure hope Epic gets their day in court.

    It's predatory and anti-consumer. Apple can eat shit.

    replies(1): >>24153455 #
    1. throwaway6000 ◴[14 Aug 20 04:34 UTC] No.24153455[source]▶
    Fortnite for Android just got axed from the Google Play Store too https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/13/fortnite-android-google-ki...

    Oops! Apple Bad, Google Good? ;)

    replies(6): >>24153544 #>>24153566 #>>24153602 #>>24154112 #>>24154229 #>>24154436 #
    2. dannyw ◴[14 Aug 20 04:43 UTC] No.24153544[source]▶
    Google Bad, Apple Worse.

    At least you can get other app stores on Android.

    replies(2): >>24153570 #>>24153915 #
    3. ◴[14 Aug 20 04:44 UTC] No.24153566[source]▶
    4. throwaway6000 ◴[14 Aug 20 04:45 UTC] No.24153570[source]▶
    How about Epic WRONG?
    5. mytherin ◴[14 Aug 20 04:48 UTC] No.24153602[source]▶
    Both bad. Android may allow side-loading a bit easier than Apple, but the Play store is still a large monopoly on Android. It comes pre-installed on basically every device and is the de-facto way of installing software there. Side loading requires the user to click past a bunch of scary messages that is not required for apps installed through the Play store.

    It is much more difficult to distribute apps from outside the original store when compared with desktop platforms. Changing this would be a good thing for users and developers alike, for both Android and iOS.

    6. Bombthecat ◴[14 Aug 20 05:18 UTC] No.24153915[source]▶
    I expect an elic store on android soon.. And they might have a chance! Fortnite will pull in a lot of people!
    replies(1): >>24154186 #
    7. darthrupert ◴[14 Aug 20 05:42 UTC] No.24154112[source]▶
    Apple sort of ok, Google worse, Epic worst. You guys should don't seem to understand what kind of companies these three are.
    replies(1): >>24154383 #
    8. virgilp ◴[14 Aug 20 05:54 UTC] No.24154186{3}[source]▶
    That's an interesting question. Couldn't they distribute a "Fortnite loader" through Play store? Since Fortnite is free-to-play, the loader wouldn't charge anything, so it wouldn't technically violate any policy. Seems like an interesting workaround to avoid giving Google the paycut.
    replies(1): >>24154391 #
    9. narrator ◴[14 Aug 20 06:01 UTC] No.24154229[source]▶
    On Android, you can download and install the apk directly from Epic Games: https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/mobile/android/get-... You just need to click through a few warning screens and it works fine.
    10. lern_too_spel ◴[14 Aug 20 06:24 UTC] No.24154391{4}[source]▶
    Unfortunately, the Play Store has a policy that prevents publishers from distributing competing app stores via the Play Store.
    replies(1): >>24158851 #
    11. aero-glide ◴[14 Aug 20 06:31 UTC] No.24154436[source]▶
    But you can just download from the website directly. Android allows you to sideload apps.
    12. virgilp ◴[14 Aug 20 15:05 UTC] No.24158851{5}[source]▶
    But what if you distribute "Fortnite"? Free to play, no premium functionality, free "upgrade" - except that the upgrade is from outside the app store. And once you get it, you can start paying for stuff. I don't think this qualifies as "an app store", since it's not an app store/ you can't download other applications from it (just the premium version of this one).