[marcusestes]

That's too much margin. They're trading net profits for user happiness and it's hurting their brand more than they understand. The app store cartel must fall.

[crazygringo]

What evidence is there that it's hurting their brand?

Outside of HN I see zero complaints. And the situation has been going on for a while. I might not like it, but it seems perfectly fine for their brand as far as I can tell.

[latexr]

I see a lot of complaints outside of HN. For starters, not every nerd, and not even every Apple nerd, is on HN. Outside of that, even my non-tech-savvy acquaintances have been complaining as of late.

Is it enough of a damaged brand to hurt their profits as of now? Clearly not. But cracks are forming. Apple’s brand isn’t damaged when they’re seen as bad, but when they’re seen as the same as everyone else.

[aucisson_masque]

The competition is limited to android and Google is sabotaging every advantage they held against Apple. Customization is lost, freedom is lost, even the smartphones prices are now similar to iPhones. Pixels sell for premium price nowadays.

[decimalenough]

The sad truth is the average user couldn't care less about "customization" (unless you're talking about background images), much less "freedom".

Pixel has always been the flagship and priced to match. Unlike Apple, there are plenty of Android phones at all price points.

[irl_zebra]

imo the app store thing is very niche and only affects a small, vocal group that tends to sit on hacker news and pay attention to these things. Can almost guarantee that 95% of the iphone-having population does not know/care about the app store "issue." I do think the general decline in quality and uptick in bugs will bite them slowly, at least once there's an iphone competitor of note.

[candiddevmike]

Most folks don't realize they're paying (up to) an extra 30% to Apple on everything they purchase in the app store. On top of an already exorbitant device price.

I'm sure you'd see more outrage if you had the app price listed without the fee, and then showed the fee below it/at time of purchase. It's another hidden fee.

[marcusestes]

It affects everyone, because the aggressive revenue cut prevents entire categories of apps and services from being published to the app store. An app store with a 5-10% cut would be an app store with a much richer choice of apps.

[SoftTalker]

I haven't ever purchased a single thing in the App Store or in-app so I guess I don't care. But it does seem like a monopoly and something that should be forced to allow competition.

[dyauspitr]

I don’t even know what the “issue” is. I’m guessing it’s the 30% they take because it’s definitely not the quality and range of apps they offer.

[esseph]

> at least once there's an iphone competitor of note.

What does this even mean? Do you mean in the US or globally?

By units sold, by platform, globally:

Android ~885 Million ~71%

iOS (iPhone) ~247 Million ~20%

HarmonyOS & Others ~118 Million ~9%

[PunchyHamster]

It's a bit of Valve situation, the competition just refuses to make better product

[benoau]

No. The "competition" is artificially limited to buying an Android phone, and mobility between platforms can be very complicated, not by accident, while apps like Patreon can simply be forced to comply with massive fees even if it makes their service much more expensive.

Stripe, PayPal and a bag full of other payment options would be able to compete just fine with IAP and its fees.

[arealaccount]

IMHO as a user I prefer purchasing via app store because it avoids all of the dark patterns companies use to prevent subscriptions or returns.

I get that it sucks that the honest folks have to pay a 30% fees

I'd be happy to pay a 30% premium on my app store purchases just for the ability to unsubscribe without dark patterns.

[ebbi]

I like the fact that when deleting an app, it reminds you about existing subscriptions related to that app, and offers to take you to the subscriptions page to unsubscribe.

In saying that, I don't think I'm personally prepared to pay an additional 30% for that. It should just be what is expected as part of good business practice.

[raincole]

> hurting their brand more than they understand

Among perhaps the 1% super tech savvy users. I never heard anyone who wants to sideload apps outside online (not even from other programmers I know in real life. Ones who care like much always have been using rooted android from day 1.)

[PlatoIsADisease]

Brand name? Apple is a faux-Veblean good targeting lower middle class people, moms, and teens (Who pretend the $50/mo payments are expensive).

Its a demonstration of wealth.

[no_wizard]

I don't think the sell through of Android phones to the wealthiest has been all that high. Celebs, top business execs, even heads of nations state are most often seen with Apple devices in their hands.

I'm sure not in every case, but even as far back as 2018 the trend line of wealth and iPhone ownership was high. Even today most app store developers admit that iPhone users tend to have more disposable income by a good margin.

Really, when I do a cursory google search of wealthy public figures that include them holding their devices, what I can find is they're clearly holding iPhones most of the time.

[amelius]

That's what you get with shareholders ...