Apple Developers could have developed the skills and expertise to create their own products. App development tools and coding is within the skill set of a smart 10 year old child. “Apple Developer” is a job title for those at entry level. If any want to grow up, there’s a whole world of opportunities for them that don’t require permission from Apple, including development for government, academia, and crowdsourced machines.
replyOf course they did: they could have just chosen to not publish apps which would have crippled iOS. The only reason it feels existential is because developers made a Faustian bargain from the beginnning.
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replyThat's the thing - even when you choose to pay for Apple's developer program, they can kick you out. This is why Fortnite kickstarted an important discussion around App Store centralization.
replyToday, Apple removes apps like ICEBlock and Navalny's voting guide; they're directly complicit in using the App Store to steer political agendas. This is what developers were unhappy with, and we're seeing this type of censorship specifically because iOS has no App Store alternative. On macOS, for example, there is no way for Apple to be strongarmed into censorship because users can install any valid binary they choose.
On iOS, developers and users do not have that same choice. There is no natural competition.