Comment by camdat | Hacker News Reader

Comment by camdat | Hacker News Reader

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So much misinfo in one post.

> They have much higher rev-shares

The current revshare for App Lab is 70/30 in favor of the developer. Much* lower than Apple.

> they have tighter control

Than the iPhone? The Quest can be used in SteamVR like any other headset. Third-party apps can be sideloaded, and the bootloader is (semi) unlocked. Not sure how they're even comparable.

> require a Facebook account to use it

A Meta account now, disconnected from the social network. How is this different than an Apple account?

> I think the Quest is basically useless without a Facebook account setup

Do you have a Quest? I've used mine entirely as a PCVR setup, I don't think I've used a FB service in years besides the store.

* EDIT: Discussed below, "much" is maybe a bit too far. Seems like the final split is roughly the same, though AppLab doesn't take a cut of IAP.

> The current revshare for App Lab is 70/30 in favor of the developer. Much lower than Apple.

How is that much lower than Apple? If you do under a million a year on the App Store or in the second year of an iOS subscription it's 85/15, else it's 70/30 (unless you have a better backroom deal).

This is a recent change no? Previously it was 70/30 across the board and this also includes in-app subscriptions/payments.

I say much because (afaik) the majority of developer income comes from recurring payments, which AppLab doesn't take any of.

Looks like implemented as of 2016. https://www.theverge.com/2016/6/8/11880730/apple-app-store-s...

Err, maybe I'm mistaken, but this seems different than the above discussion.

From what I know, Apple takes 30% of paid app sales in the app store. In-app purchases, though, drop to a 15% take after the first year (or that's my read from the article).

Contrast this with AppLab, which takes 30% of paid app sales, but doesn't take a cut of in-app purchases.

I'll retract the "much" lower point since I assume this results in roughly the same final take. Games on non-mobile have a higher initial cost, which probably balances the lack of post-sale revenue.

Regardless, I don't think this makes the Oculus more locked down than an iPhone, since you can always bypass their store and sideload or run apps directly from your PC, which Apple isn't offering.

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