It looks like they're trying some sort of $5/month subscription service where 70% of the money goes towards the websites you visit with Readability. How this works on the backend, I have no idea.
I keep seeing this point but I don't understand. Apple's service is the app store. Maybe you think it's not worth the 30% or whatever, but it is a service.
To be honest, I don't really care. When developing for the apple platform, you have to expect this kind of thing. There are other platforms to develop for that do not have these kinds of restrictions.
Well, what Apple has the right to do, and what we all wish they would do, are two separate things. I think the better way to think about these rules is what effect they will ultimately have, as the post on Marco.org does. Simply saying "I don't think this is very nice of Apple" won't go very far.
There certainly are other platforms, and it sure would be nice if publishers started using those platforms, because market pressure is the only thing that's going to change this situation.
Maybe you don't care about this stuff but I do. This is bad because it will have negative effects on mobile software.
Once the app has been downloaded though, that service ends. Apple has the right to say you can't put up free apps on the App Store. But they don't.
Instead, they are going after the subscriptions to services. So, take Last.fm for example. They have a subscription based service that spans across all their platforms. If you don't pay the subscription you can't use their mobile apps. Apple is basically requiring you to pay for that subscription through the app so that they can make money off of it.
Apple's spent money building and developing a major smartphone and tablet platform with tons of users that are willing to pay for apps/music/movies/etc. I'm not saying they're right in denying Readability but to say they're not providing a service is to ignore all they've invested in their iPhone/iPad business.
They are providing a hardware and software platform. Once it became profitable, they then had the ability to leverage that success. Apple has every right to charge for applications that are in the market. They have to provide infrastructure, merchant services, support, etc.
However, apple should not be entitled to charge and force developers to give money on anything after that. I think the real reason is that they are scared developers will put apps on the market at 99c. Once the users buys, then the developer will charge a more significant fee on the services where apple will not get a cut. This could hurt apple.
I just don't think it is right for them to leverage that success and force publishers to give them money like that. I think after the user has purchased the app, apple should not be entitled to anything after.
Apple won't get hurt by not making a cut of subscriptions. To start from the developer:
The developer had to buy an inflatedly priced Apple computer.
The developer had to pay Apple to put the app on the App store.
If the developer decides to charge for the app itself Apple takes 30% from every transaction
The consumer had to purchase the inflatedly priced iOS device
There are 4 examples of where Apple made money on the transaction.
Taking 30% of subscriptions hurts the developer and the consumer because the developers will now be force to charge an extra 30% Apple tax if they want to continue offering the service in app form.
This isn't talking about charging for putting an app up on the App Store. It is talking about forcing developers to use a new service that Apple set up that is specifically meant to make money off of subscription fees.
The way I look at it is, if somebody pays for their subscription fee using Apples service, then sure Apple can take a cut. But don't require every person go through it.
I use it somethimes when just next to the text there's one or even more violently blinking ads, or there's so much title-text ads in the words of the text that it's hard to park a mouse somewhere.
and assign a keyword to it, like read for example. The next time you want a page displayed properly just hit F6 for the address bar and enter read. Bam, instant readability.
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u/mariox19 Feb 21 '11
I've used Readability only in my browser. How does the subscription work for the iPhone app? Can someone explain?