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FTFA:
Apple said it reached the decision “following conversations with Epic” in which Epic committed to following Apple’s new EU-focused policies.
“Epic Sweden AB has been permitted to re-sign the developer agreement and accepted into the Apple Developer Program,” Apple said in a statement.
How is that Apple backing down? Looks like Epic admitted to ducking up and promised to follow the rules, so Apple let them back in.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney wrote back to Apple promising to abide by its terms, but Apple rescinded the developer account anyway.
In a statement after the emails were published, Apple publicly justified the move by referencing US court rulings that affirmed Apple’s right to terminate Epic’s accounts for any reason.
Now, however, Apple appears to have relented in the face of pushback by EU officials — paving the way for Epic, and “Fortnite,” to again become available to players on iOS in Europe.
Did you read the rest of the article. Apple didn't back down when Epic promised to abide by the rules. They backed down when the EU got involved.
Apple also listed reasons for disabling the account being criticism of Apple. Which is ludicrous.
They didn’t break any rules before, Apple just shut them down because their intention was to create competition which the EU said was allowed
This wasn't about epic it was apple not going to comply with EU law for DMA, and dumping epic preemptively. Apple was teying to force their store only, but EU says they have to allow outside payment systems. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/08/fortnite-return-iphone-game-store-europe-epic-apple
I don't think apple should have backed down. Epic has proven itself to not care for the rules and deliberately manipulate public opinion.
Epic knew introducing a third-party payment system would kick them off the ios store so they spun up a special interest group and tried to claim Epic as a victim of big tech despite also bing a multi billion dollar company.
And before people make assumptions, I don't support the apple walled garden either. I like having alternative app stores and hope to see fdroid make an appearance on iOS.
And Apple hasn't manipulated public opinion? Epic might be assholes, but they are right: Apple is anti-competitive and should adhere to the DMA.
No doubt apple has. Neither orgs are the better in this scenario.
Both are out for their own money making interest.
Sure but I think Apple is coming out worse with the way they are complying with the EU rules. At least to me it has tarnished them.
For sure. If Epic forces Apple to allow more competition though, that's a good outcome. I hope the EU commission slaps Apple hard for pulling stunts like these.
Apple doesn't give a shit about you. Don't give a shit about them.
Agreed. Which is why I still don't have an apple account.
Which threw the support guy for a 6 when I was helping my housemate fix her phone.
This wasn't about epic it was apple not going to comply with EU law for DMA. Apple was teying to force their store only, but EU says they have to allow outside payment systems. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/08/fortnite-return-iphone-game-store-europe-epic-apple
Because nuanced opinions are a thing.
Apple and Epic are bad companies just trying to maximize profit. What’s complicated about that?
Nothing complex there they are both terrible.
EU made it so Apple couldn’t force anti consumer/monopoly practices, a company used their new rights on Apples platform, and apple banned the account
If you were apple you would do the same thing, open the door to people running third party apps but ban an org who deliberately breaks the rules on and off the store.
You didn’t even bother to defend your original comment or give supporting arguments for your claims. It seems to me like you do infact support and even encourage Apples walled garden.
You are equating agreeing with one decision as agreeing with the entire platform. That is what is nuanced. The world is not black and white, it is an infinite number of shades of grey.
Who cares if their a multi billion dollar company. Apple can still bully them and Apple is a multi Trillion dollar company. That is an insane amount of money.
That is the real take away. Let that make more in a day than you make in your lifetime org be idiots and spend money on fighting each other.
I just can't understand defending monopolies. The question here is not what is right for apple or epic, it's what is the best outcome for the human customer.
As an Apple user I do not want the viruses and other bullshit that comes with being able to install anything on the phone.
Literally this week I saw an android thread talking about a banking app that doesn't work because it was erroneously thinking the phone was rooted, and there is easily install able malware that roots your phone and does malicious things on android.
The walled garden is a feature for the people who buy Apple products, and it being torn down does nothing for any of us.
This will solely help Epic games make more money, and nothing else.
Link some of said malware? We can report it together.
How will it benefit me? I already stated a way it will directly harm me. But here's another:
I don't want to have to go to a second app store for any reason, even not essential apps, even if (and this is a false if) the security issues aren't a concern. It is inconvenient and goes against the design of the platform I pay extra to be a part of.
I abandoned android because of the Amazon app store's existence, the first time an app I had curiousity about was only available there.
What do I gain from this?
You linked to an article about apps that can no longer be installed because they were removed.
This is only possible because of Apple's walled garden.
Which I chose to buy into. A choice that you all want to diminish and take away. I already had the option of using android operating system based phones. I did it for a long time. I like the walled garden because it is run by a company that cares about privacy and security. They make it very difficult for malicious actors (such as Epic, or Meta, or even Google) to track and sell your data.
I chose to buy into this and want these protections.
Having an alternative app store or sideloading removes Apple from being able to protect against those types of attacks.
And if you believe Epic Games will lower the price of items in Fortnight or any other game, I've got a bridge to sell you.
Aside from giving away games for free to try and pull you to their store, game prices aren't better on the Epic Games Store than they are on Steam, for example.
This won't end up with any noticeable price change in the already budget gaming sphere that is iOS games, and we all know it.
But it might help people pirate games more, which is good, I guess?
Epic has proven itself to not care for the rules and deliberately manipulate public opinion.
What relevance does that have? Apple should apply the same rules to everyone, even if they "don't deserve it".
But they are.
Epic deliberately broke the rules, and get kicked off the store.
They then try to register as Epic Sweden and get denied due to their previous fuckery.
No, they weren’t removed from the dev program when things went down, even when the judge said they could.
But years later they decided “no wait, now that you can release your own store y’know what? Let’s nip this in the bud.”
They also said part of the decision was because of ongoing litigation, which is a huge secondary problem.
I don't support the apple walled garden either
Sure you don't
I genuinely don't. It is one of the reasons I use Android is third party stores like Fdroid.
"apple shouldn't have backed down" despite them being clearly far more evil is literally supporting the apple walled garden
Supporting one action does not mean I support everything they do.
If epic was serious they should build their own store for IOS instead of rejoining the existing store.
That’s what they are trying to do though. Apple killed off their developer account, which is still required to create a third party store.
If they were serious they would probably put out their own hardware. Samsung comes with the Samsung store on their phones. Valve made the Steam Deck to try to push SteamOS/Linux adoption.
I don't care about epic at all. They don't impact a fraction of the number of people/lives. Apple impacts a fuck load. They need to stop being a monopoly whether Satan himself has to do anything to change that or whomever else could
That would be the best outcome.