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threeseed

> Mac software and app industry has died

And yet for me there are far more apps than there has ever been.

> steal ideas of developers

Nobody owns an idea.

> They killed the industry.

This notion that Apple killed the mobile apps industry which it arguably started is ridiculous.

We have companies like Instagram, Snap, WhatsApp, Niantic etc who built billion dollar businesses on the back of the iOS platform. And a wide array of small developers e.g. Calm who are likely to be the next billion dollar company. Not to mention all the indie developers who are thriving.

Those of us who run startups know how difficult it is to build a robust channel to market. And Apple gives you one on a silver platter for far less than what other ad platforms charge.

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You can still kill something that you start.

I think what they’re saying it’s now a lot harder for indie developers. Sure if you’re Instagram or FB you’re OK (though even those companies take issue with the 30%)

They just haven’t looked after smaller developers. The introduction of paid search ads was just so hostile to anyone without a massive budget - or rather anyone without a high lifetime value per user, making initial outlay on acquisition make sense. All it does is incentivise this dumb model of free apps with endless sneaky bullshit in—app purchases.

Or, worse, the new subscription-everything. I don’t want to pay a monthly subscription for a god damn gif editing app! I just want to buy it and that be that. But this is now rife.

The $1 / $2 app model was pretty good by comparison IMHO

> mobile apps industry which it arguably started

Just a friendly reminder that Japanese carriers had a $1B mobile app/content economy going before the Apple app store launched.

You still need a $100 a year developer subscription to develop your app though, right?

You need a subscription to distribute your app via the AppStore, not to develop it or to use the app you wrote personally.

If you don't pay the rent-seeking Apple tax, there are severe restrictions for iOS:

• You can only install on a very limited number of devices, and the HW IDs are kept by Apple, so installing from a different Mac won't help. It's tied to your developer ID, indefinitely. They don't mention that in the “On-device testing” bullet point.

• Your app install will only work for a week. After that, you have to reinstall because some certificate timed out.

Nota bene, this is for local installs, no AppStore involved. Yet they bully you into paying rent just so you can run your own app on your own devices.

No, you can develop your app for free. Here are details from Apple's own site about the free vs. paid memberships.

https://developer.apple.com/support/compare-memberships/

You only need it for iOS/ iPadOS/ watchOS development.

You can make a macOS app without a developer license, and just distribute it yourself (outside the Mac App Store). But the iOS app store is the only way users can get iOS apps, so you need to be on the apple developer program

Notarizing the app with require you to pay.

Yes true, but that's not required. You can still distribute apps, and your users can just "right click" and click "open", though this might be a little secret, since most people think they need to go into system preferences.

Nobody goes to that bar anymore because it’s always far too busy!

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