Developers Looking to Set Up Alternatives To Apple's App Store 192
TechDirt is reporting that in response to the frustrations with Apple's app store dictatorship, a few developers are looking to set up their own alternative app stores. Alternate app stores would only work on jailbroken phones, making their adoption scope limited, so the question is whether Apple will go after these start ups on the legal battlefield. "Apple, which collects a 30% commission from sellers on its store, doesn't break out the site's revenue. Brokerage firm Piper Jaffray estimates the site generated about $150 million in sales last year and projects total sales will grow to $800 million this year. Apple did not respond to requests for comment. But it has said in the past that with the iPhone it was trying to strike a balance between a closed device like the iPod and an open device like the PC."
Define for me please. (Score:2, Interesting)
Write a web application (Score:3, Interesting)
1) Offline application support
2) Hardware-accelerated animations
3) Chrome-less UI
4) Custom application icon
Since it is a web app you avoid the stranglehold of the app store and the LONG processing time of applications (I know, I have applied and been accepted). You also get the freedom to update your app immediately at any time without needing apple's approval.
Re:Greedy Developers. (Score:1, Interesting)
Oh I am sure that Apple is making a profit. So are the developers.
I have no illusion that Apple is just covering their costs. But I have worked in the software industry long enough that I think their iTunes app store is well worth what they take.
Freedom haters? Dude I write code on Linux and have contributed to the Kernel. It was small but it is in there.
Nobody MAKES you buy an iPhone. The iPhone and Touch are very nice devices. OS/X is a really nice development system. I don't own a Mac and only own a Touch which yes is a great little device. I use it mostly for free podcasts and for music I have ripped from my CDs. I have bought very little from the App store myself but I really do see the value in it. Just as I see the value in Steam.
So please take your silly little fan boy rants someplace else.
There is NO need to set up your own app store if you want to provide jailbroken apps. All you have to do is put them on a website. Which is fine by me. But complaining about the % Apple takes is just greed. Complaining about the approval process I can understand.
Re:Striking a balance (Score:3, Interesting)
The problem I have is that they can write/develop anything they want, and they can even sell it for any price they want, they just can't do it through Apple's store.
So who the hell cares? Just because you write a great book doesn't oblige Dymocks to sell it. You may have trouble getting anyone to sell it. You might - gasp - have to resort to selling it on the Internet.
Just like the guys in the article are doing. Big deal, grow up, and stop waiting for the world to solve you problems for you.
They're not complaining (much) about Apple's cut. (Score:3, Interesting)
If they are really complaining about the 30% that apple is charging they they are just being greedy.
As I read TFA they're not complaining about Apple's cut. They're complaining about the process of becoming a developer and releasing products being slowed to a crawl and/or stonewalled entirely by Apple's bureaucracy.
Apple's cut has been mentioned mainly as the likely downside for itself of Apple's intransigence and a motivation for Apple to go after the alternative distributor(s) in the courts and otherwise.
Re:Legal Issues (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, of course Apple will go after them.
On what basis?
It isn't illegal to sell or offer gratis software for a platform.
It isn't illegal to setup a website.
Apple can claim whatever they want about jailbreaking, but the only people they can sue over it are the people developing jailbreak tools and the people using them. What does this online store have to do with either of those groups?
Re:Anti-competitive behavior? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Legal Issues (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, if these stores can be set up as legitimate for-profit businesses, I wouldn't be surprised if this could lead to an antitrust case, forcing Apple to open up the iPhone.
Or rather, another antitrust case.
Re:Legal Issues (Score:2, Interesting)
All that may be true but it doesn't matter if what you are doing is legal. Apple will destroy them financially by tying everything up in court.
It will definitely attract Apple's attention. As the OP said, Apple has a long history of getting in people's faces about the silliest things.
I would love for someone to stand up and smack them down but it's going to take a bunch of money.
Re:Anti-competitive behavior? (Score:3, Interesting)
As I understand it, third-line forcing is when you refuse to sell one good or service unless the customer agrees to buy another good or service. In the case of eBay and PayPal, by not allowing you to pay using another service, they were making your ability to purchase a product on eBay contingent upon you paying for a second product (PayPal's payment service). You couldn't buy the first product (used junk) without buying the second one (PayPal tax).
By contrast, you can clearly buy an iPhone without being forced to buy applications from the app store, so unless I'm misunderstanding something, I don't see how that could be third-line forcing. That said, IANAL.