Stuff

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    What's Hot
    Voyager

    What the Voyager space probes can teach humanity about immortality and legacy as they sail through space for trillions of years

    May 28, 2022
    Lego Top Gun pilots

    Top Gun: How fighter jet pilots withstand high G

    May 28, 2022
    Maths

    Volkswagen South Africa launches online high school maths initiative for the Eastern Cape

    May 28, 2022
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube SoundCloud
    Trending
    • What the Voyager space probes can teach humanity about immortality and legacy as they sail through space for trillions of years
    • Top Gun: How fighter jet pilots withstand high G
    • Volkswagen South Africa launches online high school maths initiative for the Eastern Cape
    • How to launch your dead relatives into space
    • A unified cyber security strategy is the key to protecting businesses
    • Volkswagen launching its Taigo SUV at a free event in Joburg next weekend
    • Scientists have grown cells on a robot skeleton and we’re pretty sure we know where this is going
    • Sony expects a 275% increase in its PC games sales over the next year
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Stuff Stuff
    • News
      • App News
      • Business News
      • Camera News
      • Gaming News
      • Headphone News
      • Industry News
      • Internet News
      • Laptops News
      • Motoring News
      • Other Tech News
      • Phone News
      • Tablet News
      • Technology News
      • TV News
      • Wearables News
    • Reviews
      • Camera Reviews
      • Featured Reviews
      • Game Reviews
      • Headphone Reviews
      • Laptop Reviews
      • Other Tech Reviews
      • Phone Reviews
      • Tablet Reviews
      • Wearables Reviews
    • Columns
    • Stuff Guides
    • Podcasts & Videos
      • Videos
      • Stuffed
      • Stuffing Around
      • Tech Byte
      • T2S2
    • Win
    • Subscribe
      • Print
      • Digital
        • Google Play
        • iTunes
        • Download
        • Zinio
    • Stuff Shop
      • Shop Now
      • My Account
      • Downloads
    • Contact Us
      • Get In Touch
      • Advertise
    0 Shopping Cart
    Stuff
    Home » News » Industry News » Why anti-competitive probe into tech giants could spell trouble for Apple and its App Store
    Industry News

    Why anti-competitive probe into tech giants could spell trouble for Apple and its App Store

    The ConversationBy The ConversationNovember 10, 2020Updated:October 1, 2021No Comments5 Mins Read
    Apple App Store Main
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    If the coronavirus pandemic has shown us anything, it’s just how much people depend on a few large technology companies. The use of mobile apps and web services has increased significantly in recent years, as people adapted to new ways to stay in touch.

    At the same time though, antitrust regulators in the US and Europe have been taking a much closer look as part of a growing desire to investigate the dominance of some large players in the technology market.

    One of the issues is the amount of control that platform operators have over significant parts of the economy, and their ability to act as “gatekeepers” to markets in an anti-competitive manner. The EU has recently introduced new legislation to cover online platforms.

    Recently there have been a number of significant stories outlining a range of problems that developers have experienced with the Apple App Store in particular. This has led to developers forming a group called the Coalition for App Fairness, which advocates for three key issues to be resolved in Apple’s App Store.

    1. Anti-competitive policies and conflicts of interest, where Apple is both the “gatekeeper” to the platform, admitting and setting the rules for third-party apps (such as Spotify), while also providing its own services (Apple Music, for example).

    2. Charging 30% transaction fees on app sales and in-app purchases, and preventing developers from using or making users aware of other ways to pay with lower fees.

    3. A lack of freedom for users to exercise choice and buy from others, which would allow a free market to settle on transaction fees.

    Criticism and concern

    One of the most significant criticisms of the company’s approach to the App Store is that there is no course of appeal available for developers that doesn’t rest with Apple. Larger companies have been able to negotiate exceptions to the rules, but in this case, the exception appears to apply only to three large tech companies (ClassPass, Facebook and Airbnb), and not to other independent apps. This risks further exacerbating the concerns expressed by politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, around the dominance of large tech companies due to their influence and bargaining power.

    Many app developers are afraid to challenge Apple as the only platform available to sell their creations is the company’s App Store. YM German/Shutterstock

    An especially problematic situation arises where Apple is both “gatekeeping” apps, while also running its own competing app – Spotify has to share 30% of each first-year subscription with Apple via the App Store, and 15% of subscriptions after the first year – but Apple’s own competing music subscription service pays no such fee. Apple’s rules also prevent developers from telling users that it is cheaper to subscribe outside of the App Store ecosystem.

    Developers are often unwilling to speak publicly about problems with Apple, as their business or livelihood depends on their apps being available on the App Store. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, recently assured the US House Judiciary Panel: “We do not retaliate or bully people. It’s strongly against our company culture.”

    Still, Epic Games, maker of the phenomenally successful Fortnite had its request for a restraining order against Apple granted in part, as a result of what they argued to be wider retaliations against their actions.

    In August of this year, Epic Games introduced a new way to pay for virtual items directly, without Apple receiving a 30% cut of the sale. This meant users would pay less. Apple argued this breaks their developer agreement, and threatened to block all of Epic Games’ developer accounts, including those for unrelated products.

    While Apple definitely has an argument that the gaming company breached its developer agreement, Epic Games argues the terms are anti-competitive and thus illegal, as they deprive customers of choice, and raise prices. The court found that Epic Games was at risk of “irreparable harm” due to the some of the seemingly retaliatory measures being levelled at separate legal entities.

    The problem is that most developers cannot afford to take this kind of costly legal action. The Epic Games case has encouraged more developers to speak up about concerns regarding Apple’s commercial App Store practices, with one developer even going so far as to liken some of their conditions to “Mafia extortion”.

    Apple argues that its policies make sure apps “meet our high standards for privacy, performance, and security” to maintain consumer trust, and this certainly makes sense for some of their technical restrictions and rules which ensure apps don’t abuse users’ personal data or files.

    But it’s clear that some of Apple’s restrictions go significantly beyond this, such as where apps are prevented from notifying users of Apple’s 30% fee. In other cases, developers have complained that Apple is trying to force them to make certain commercial decisions, such as auto-renewing free trial subscriptions, which they do not agree with, and don’t want to make. We asked Apple for a response to these issues but have yet to receive a reply.

    Monopoly game

    At the end of all of this, you’d be forgiven for thinking these developers should simply make their apps available elsewhere. The problem with the App Store is that there is no “elsewhere” – Apple prevents anyone from making a competing App Store, so the only way to get an app on an iPhone or iPad is via the App Store, with the 30% fee. A scathing report by the House Committee on the Judiciary on the impacts of monopoly power on the digital economy has also pointed out the high cost and practical issues with switching away from Apple devices.

    The report has also accused Apple of making up “unwritten rules when convenient”. It is perhaps therefore fitting that a company accused of acting as “judge, jury and executioner” towards developers on its own platform looks increasingly likely to see its own future decided in a regular courtroom before a regular judge.

    • Greig Paul is Lead Mobile Networks and Security Engineer, University of Strathclyde
    • This article first appeared on The Conversation

     

     

    antitrust App Store Apple featured The Conversation
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
    The Conversation

      Related Posts

      Voyager

      What the Voyager space probes can teach humanity about immortality and legacy as they sail through space for trillions of years

      May 28, 2022
      Lego Top Gun pilots

      Top Gun: How fighter jet pilots withstand high G

      May 28, 2022
      Maths

      Volkswagen South Africa launches online high school maths initiative for the Eastern Cape

      May 28, 2022

      Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

      In The Mag
      Stuff April-May 2022 Latest Issue

      In This Issue – The Smart Home (April-May 2022) Issue

      By Brett VenterApril 4, 20220

      It’s time for a brand-new issue of your favourite tech publication. The April-May- 2022 edition…

      2021 Wish List
      wish list Stuff Wish List 2021

      Stuff Wish List: for the tech impaired

      By Duncan PikeDecember 22, 20210

      Are you from the time before being glued to a smartphone was considered normal? Here’s…

      Wishlist DIY Stuff tech

      Stuff Wish List: for the DIY Diehard

      December 21, 2021
      Wish List Gearhead

      Stuff Wish List: For the petrol-soaked gearhead

      December 20, 2021
      outsiders

      Stuff Wish List: for the Outsiders

      December 17, 2021

      Latest Video

      Sonos

      SONOS Roam SL unboxing by Toby Shapshak

      March 30, 2022
      Mini Cooper

      The Mini Cooper SE Electric with Toby Shapshak

      March 18, 2022
      MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbox Six Extraction Edition unboxing

      MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbox Six Extraction Edition unboxing

      March 16, 2022
      Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Unboxing

      Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra unboxing with Toby Shapshak

      March 16, 2022
      Contact

      South Africa's Consumer Tech News Hub

      General: [email protected]
      Subscriptions: [email protected] or 087 353 1291
      Editorial: 072 735 2614
      Sales: 083 375 2418

      Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube SoundCloud

      Subscribe to Updates

      • Terms and Conditions
      • Privacy & POPI
      • My account
      © 2022 Stuff Group. Designed by Chronon.

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.