Rethinking the App Store

For example, here’s Ben Thompson from yesterday:“What is interesting is that Apple may give Substack cover to change course. [...] Substack can (justifiably) say to its publishers that it is going to offer an all-up Substack bundle for in-app purchase because that is the only way it can offer in-app purchase, and that publishers should agree to be ... See more

Yes, Apple created the iPhone and the App Store and, under current U.S. antitrust doctrine, almost certainly has the right to impose whatever taxes it wishes on third parties, including 30% on purchases and the first year of subscriptions, and completely cutting off developers from their customers. Antitrust law, though, while governed by Supreme C

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This was acceptable in 2008, when the number of mobile apps was small. But now the App Store is not one small outpost for developers and creators to make a living. It is an unavoidable, ubiquitous forum for commerce. This new reality requires Apple to behave less like a product company and more like a platform: a neutral party that allows a wide di... See more

Even so, it is highly improbable that Apple will do much more to be friendlier to platforms and creators unless the government forces them to. Why? They have a great business. Apple has a hardware monopoly over a specific set of consumers, and they’ve leveraged that into a monopoly on payments conducted on those devices.

This made me think of the other recent case against Apple from Epic, where Apple's response to the court was essentially trolling. The judgement required Apple to allow apps to advertise outside marketplaces where users could purchase in-game items. So apple responded by allowing developers to apply to place exactly one text-only (non-hyperlink), s... See more