Apple’s app war needs peace

Your tween might be freaking out that she can’t play a new “Fortnite” video game on her iPhone. Or maybe you’ve heard that Spotify, Tinder, Facebook and a small email company are fuming about how Apple treats their apps.

Apple has an iron grip on what apps people can download on their iPhones, and some app makers are complaining loudly about this arrangement as well as the fees that Apple collects from some apps.

This feels like an intractable standoff, with app users caught in the middle. But there are nuts-and-bolts changes that Apple could make to tackle the bureaucracy, unpredictability and unfairness of the app world.

These changes won’t end all of these conflicts, which are starting to deprive people of apps or make them confusing and expensive to use. But the app system could be made better even without a truce.

I asked for ideas on how Apple could improve the app store from Jacob Eiting, a founder of RevenueCat, which helps app makers design in-app purchases and knows what drives developers crazy.

Specify how developers can fix rejected apps: 

Apple says yes or no to each new iPhone app or app update, based on the company’s 12,700-word app rule book — not including addendums.

Eiting said developers sometimes get rejection letters that simply recite a portion of Apple’s rules. He said it would be more helpful if Apple’s staff offered specific suggestions for what developers could change — sometimes as minor as tweaking a menu — to get the app approved.

Improve Apple’s payments technology:

Eiting said it could take weeks or longer for app makers to write software that links their app to Apple’s proprietary system for people to pay for stuff with a fingerprint or face scan. Creating software hookups with other payments technology is much simpler, he said.

Clarify the gray zone:

Apple has two categories of app purchases: When you buy something virtual, like an e-book, Apple collects from the app maker a fee of up to 30 percent on the purchase. When you buy something to use in the real world, like a physical book or an Uber ride, Apple doesn’t charge a fee.

But an increasing number of apps offer services that are somewhere between real and virtual — personal training or cooking classes conducted over an app, for example.

Eiting said Apple needed to clarify when the company would assess commissions on apps that offer these hybrid activities. Confusion over this question is stopping some apps before they even start, he said.

Consider an independent app review:

There are inevitable questions about conflict of interest between app makers and Apple’s own apps that compete with them. The founders of Blix, an email app maker that has fought with Apple, suggested to me that Apple create an independent app review process to make sure it isn’t unfairly punishing rival apps.

Apple has in the past made changes to its app system to respond to developers’ complaints, and the company told me it’s always open to more. Any tweaks, though, won’t go as far as some app makers want: essentially, to blow up Apple’s control over what apps are allowed on people’s iPhones.

But it’s still possible to revamp the app system in ways that could bring more calm for Apple, developers and our smartphone-dependent lives.

-Shira Ovide, The New York Times-

'Fortnite' maker sues Apple over app restrictions

SAN FRANCISCO - The maker of video game sensation "Fortnite" on Thursday sued Apple for the way it rules over the App Store, accusing the iPhone maker of wielding monopoly power.

Epic Games called on a federal judge to order Apple to stop its "anti-competitive conduct" and invalidate the tech giant's rules requiring app developers to pay 30 percent of transactions as the price of doing business in the App Store.

The suit was filed the same day Apple booted Fortnite from the online marketplace, after Epic added a payment system that let player transactions bypass the App Store system, saving money in the process.

"Today, Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users," Apple said in reply to an AFP inquiry.

"As a result their Fortnite app has been removed from the store."

- Ruling the App Store -

Apple has in recent months come under fire for the tight grip it has on the App Store, which is the sole source of applications for its popular mobile devices. The issue came up during a heated congressional antitrust hearing last month.

"Apple has become what it once railed against: the behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation," the lawsuit argued.

"Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolists of yesteryear."

Gamers with Fortnite on their iPhones will still be able to play the game, but won't get updates because those would need to come through the App Store.

The Silicon Valley colossus has defended its position as needed to keep applications, and by extension users, safe from hackers and scammers, claiming that its commission on transactions -- which can drop to 15 percent in the second year for subscriptions -- is earned by minding the shop.

"Epic agreed to the App Store terms and guidelines freely and we're glad they've built such a successful business on the App Store," Apple said.

"The fact that their business interests now lead them to push for a special arrangement does not change the fact that these guidelines create a level playing field for all developers and make the store safe for all users."

Epic's suit, however, accuses Apple of unreasonably restraining trade.

Epic said it is not seeking money or favorable treatment, but instead asking the court order the Apple store rule to be changed for all developers.

Fortnite has been played some 350 million people around the world since its release in 2017 -- a game where players in a virtual world must survive by searching for weapons and resources while eliminating competitors.

It is also a popular e-sports title in which spectators watch experts players and personalities compete, in some cases for cash prizes.

"Apple imposes unreasonable and unlawful restraints to completely monopolize both markets and prevent software developers from reaching the over one billion users of its mobile devices unless they go through a single store controlled by Apple," the suited contended.

"Where Apple exacts an oppressive 30 percent tax on the sale of every app."

Agence France-Presse