Beep boop - this is a robot. A new show has been posted to TWiT…
What are your thoughts about today’s show? We’d love to hear from you!
Obviously Sour Grapes with Tongue and Cheek over the new vision pro for Leo. Encouraging that Jason and Alex remain optimistic. I predict @Leo will give into the pressure of must-have. Leo scolding Alex for his one-star approach was an on-air unprofessional move. Something that should be taken care of off-camera.
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Speaking for myself - I completely agree with Leo. A technology podcast of journalists reporting on Apple is no place for advocating digital violence and review bombing for what amount to purely selfish and self-centered reasons. I think there’s no place at all for it - period. But certainly not on a podcast like this.
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There’s a flaw in Alex’s review-bombing plan anyway. To give a rating or write a review, you have to have purchased the app. You can’t just spam-review anything.
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I think Alex’s plan was to review-bomb the app as it exists in the App Store. After a developer has announced that it’s leaving, but before it’s actually left.
What bothers me most is the fact that he’s not alone. There are more people who think and feel like him and are willing to coordinate their harassment and present their behavior as some kind of virtue or crusade.
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I am totally with Alex on this one. If other companies want to make their own store, let them make their own device and put whatever store they want on it.
This sounds to me like the EU saying to Ford- you HAVE to put a CHEVY engine in your Mustangs, because you are limiting choice of only allowing your own FORD engine in your own manufactured car.
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It is more like them telling Ford, if the customer wants to but be tyres or an exhaust system or they want to put a wing on the car, they don’t have to buy them at Ford dealerships, they can go to Halfords, Kwikfit, ATU or Vergölst and you can’t stop them doing it.
At the end of the day, it is the user’s choice. If they want to possibly reduce the security of their device, because they want to buy an app as a third party store, that is their decision.
I won’t, probably, but that is my choice, but I won’t be mean spirited and say other people can’t.
If you look at the Android world, developers have their apps in multiple stores, i suspect iOS won’t be any different, developers would be stupid to take the apps out of the Apple Store and only have them in a third party store, I suspect they will have versions in all the main stores that crop up.
And I don’t think we will see a Spotify store and a BBEdit store, I think it will be Steam, Epic and maybe Xbox, plus the telcos having their own stores, for example.
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Regarding Safari on iPhone and browsing on the web (around the 1h30m mark) did the entire panel forget that there are ad-blocking extensions on iOS? And then Andy waxing over an assistive feature on Android that just shows the content-- that sounds an awful lot like the built-in Reader mode on Safari.
As far as Apple Vision Pro, I am very excited to sign up for a demo now that I’ve watched a bunch of the reviews. I’m excited to see what Apple will announce for Vision OS at WWDC and where developers will go over the next year. I’m frankly surprised by Leo’s complete lack of enthusiasm. It is one thing to objectively opine that it will not be a mainstream hit, it is another thing to seemingly have no excitement about trying it.
One final comment, about how weird and off-putting it is to try to talk to someone when you can’t see their eyes. Lots of people wear sunglasses and no one seems to have an issue carrying on long conversations. 
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Not really it,s like saying "Treat the iphone like a computer " which is what it is. There are no commissions on the mac.
It’s probably more analogous with vehicle manufacturers trying to insist maintenance, spare parts, accessories etc. can only be purchased from them.
i.e. they are trying to leverage a monopoly position (you bought a Ford) rather than compete in an open market on price, quality etc.
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I don’t view it as harassment but expressing your opinion. So long as the 1 star score includes an explanation for why the rating was so low it gives the company valuable feedback about their business decisions.
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Apple just announced they will allow streaming games which eliminates Xbox needing its own store just to deploy their app.
Apple has previously argued in court cases it considers the iPhone & iPad more as consoles vs. general purpose computers.
How are game purchases handled? On Android/PlayStation the PS app opens a link to the PS website, where you purchase the game using Sony’s payment mechanism. Not sure if Google gets a cut of that, but the price to me is the same.
Does Apple allow that too?
Here’s a scenario:
You BUILD your own building. You put a Target in that building. Hey wait… I can’t buy Walmart Sam Choice Root-beer soda at that Target in the building I made. EU: “You must put a portal in which customers in your own building must be allowed to purchase soda from a competing retail store”
This is how I see it.
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If we’re comparing the App Store to the real world, I’d like to know reasons for and against using a traditional land owners retail model. Apple owns the land, and they can charge more for big buildings to be on it, but they don’t own 30% of each purchase inside those buildings.
I wish the EU was addressing the competing businesses issue. Apple shouldn’t be allowed to charge 30% on products they compete directly with (music, books, etc).
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Here’s another scenario:
I buy vacuum from Target. Later - I see a discount on vacuum bags at WalMart that’s cheaper than Target. So I buy it there. Yet later still - Costco runs a promotion on accessories for that same vacuum.
All three work together.
In Apple’s model - I’d have to buy everything from them. If I went elsewhere, I’d have to ditch the vacuum I purchased and buy a new one of the same model.
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This is a valid point for the mechanical and trim components in a vehicle, but the computer modules in vehicles are almost exclusively locked down to the OEM.
Interestingly, Apple provides a view into replacement parts for iPhones that have been serviced showing which are genuine Apple parts, 3rd party or recycled from other original Apple devices:
Apple Now Allows Game Streaming Apps on App Store Worldwide
Apple is finally allowing Xbox Game Pass streaming on the App Store — this is a huge deal
Or maybe the real world analogue is more like a shopping mall owned by Apple. And there are real world malls that collect a percentage of revenue from their tenants as part of the leasing agreement.
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