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Apple announces App Store changes in the EU

(9to5mac.com)
79 points saubeidl | 2 comments | 26 Jun 25 19:54 UTC | HN request time: 0.473s | source
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rekoil ◴[26 Jun 25 20:11 UTC] No.44390818[source]▶

    Developers who opt for tier one will get access to a limited set of mandatory App Store services, including:
    * App distribution and delivery
    * Trust and safety features
    * App management
    [...]
    Developers who opt for tier two will get access to all services provided by the App Store today.
Am I wrong or does it seem like apps in "tier 1" won't even have access to app notification delivery? That's wild...
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bigyabai ◴[26 Jun 25 20:22 UTC] No.44390912[source]▶
It would make sense to provide an alternative if Apple's priority was the privacy of their users. Unfortunately, we have testimony from American congressmembers that suggests they have ulterior priorities: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/apple-admits-to-...
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1. 1659447091 ◴[26 Jun 25 21:04 UTC] No.44391355[source]▶
That article is a spun version from what appears to be the source article from reuters[0]. Being that they lifted quotes from there and then added a clickbait title by forgetting to add that Google is also compelled by governments to give them the data.

The only "ulterior priorities" I could pick up on was that Apple was most likely following the Government restrictions in a more discerning way than Google by not breaking out the push notifications in their aggregated data for request disclosures. Once it was made public by a Senator, Apple updated their policy and started to break it out to its own section. How long Google did this before Apple is not stated and the DOJ declined to comment on the push notification surveillance or whether it had prevented Apple or Google from talking about it.

[0] https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/governments...

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2. bigyabai ◴[26 Jun 25 22:20 UTC] No.44392051[source]▶
I'm not treating this as a relative comparison, it's a criticism specifically of Apple's service architecture. When you prioritize privacy while refusing transparency, you end up in situations like this very often. That would not be the case if Apple held themselves to their advertised standards for the infrastructure they build.