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Comment by ceejayoz | Hacker News Reader

> Today, he acknowledges that Apple’s about-face could be related to changes in the regulatory environment, but he thinks Apple’s new attitude comes down to one thing: Android.

I'd imagine nearly no one is buying Android phones because you can get a Bitcoin app for them. Chances are good Apple's lawyers said "shut it down, we need to figure this out first" and this is the end result. No conspiracy theories required.

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I have extensive, direct, front-row experience with getting difficult apps into the store (though not Bitcoin-related).

The pattern you describe "shut it down, we need to figure this out first" is very accurate. The app is pulled while somebody high up figures out what the policy is going to be. Often the policy involves setting up safeguards (that you may or may not have already implemented) for abuse, user privacy, legal compliance, etc. These new guidelines are then consistently applied throughout the store (although some of them are unwritten and never make it into the official list.)

This process is slow, and not very transparent. However as a person who has been on the receiving end many times I think it is a net positive for the end customer. Sure, I would prefer a system that is both transparent and safe, but it's not so bad really.

That sounds right. Especially given the rumor that Apple is cooking up their own mobile payment service.

I guess when you try to do something like this, the lawyers and other higher ups need to figure a lot of things out first. And this bitcoin business looks like it falls somewhere either within this scope or at least very very close to it.

I think they needed this time to get a comprehensive look what they were planning re: mobile payments and how bitcoin dealing might be affected by this.

Lets not forget iPhone in available on more networks in US because of Android threat :).

More App's (By that I mean both in number and Quality) available on Android than iOS is not something Apple would want to become a common theme. That alone already made them more open and will continue to do so.

> I'd imagine nearly no one is buying Android phones because you can get a Bitcoin app for them.

No, they're buying Android phones for just about every other reason (approx 80% marketshare according to IDC [1])

[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-v-android-market-share...

On the other hand there's a large portion of android users that really aren't participants in its app economy. At this point the value the iOS market presents to developers equals Android and the cost and hassle of developing for iOS is significantly less. Android winds up being a haven for techies who want to run task managers and antivirus on their phones, people who religiously hate Apple and people who want to spend as little as possible on a smartphone.

Not true anymore -- see my comment above regarding Android revenue share.

Most of the "reasons" being money. Android phones are mostly sold to the "unwashed masses" who just want a cheap phone and get some low/medium spec Android phone with their contract.

You cannot really compare something sold in 200 models and 50 price points to something sold in 5 models and 5 price points. It will be like saying people buy more Toyotas than Mercedes. Well, of course they do.

Here's another data point: this 80% of marketshare is reversed when considering profits.

> Here's another data point: this 80% of marketshare is reversed when considering profits

Actually, not true. iOS only controls about 52.7% of the revenue share -- however Android has been creeping up every quarter and now places like Forbes and BusinessInsider are predicting Android will overtake iOS in revenue share in not too long.[1]

[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-revenue-android-2014-4

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