Coalition for App Fairness doubles in size one month after launch

Posted:
in General Discussion edited October 2020
The non-profit organization comprised of developers looking to highlight issues developers face when developing for the App Store has more than doubled in size, with a roster now boasting 40 companies.

Coalition for App Fairness doubles in size to 40 members one month after launch


The Coalition for App Fairness, which launched in September and counts as members video-game giant Epic Games, dating company Match Group and music streaming service Spotify, says the original group of 13 companies has grown to 40. It has received more than 400 requests to join.

"The outpouring of interest we've received has exceeded our expectations," Sarah Maxwell, a spokeswoman for the coalition, said in a statement. "As we bring on new members and hear their stories, it's evident that too many developers have been unable to make their voices heard."

While the group targets both the App Store and the Google Play Store, many developers' complaints target Apple in specific. Because Apple does not allow third-party apps to be loaded onto iOS devices easily, many of the developers claim that Apple can unfairly control their ability to reach customers.

According to TechCrunch, many companies are singling out Apple for hypocritical behavior.

Eristica, a company that allowed users to challenge each other to dares to raise money for charity, was rejected from the App Store due to dangerous content. The company claims that it pre-moderated content to ensure no hazardous content was published, and even hired human moderators to keep an eye on what wound up on its platform.

The company points out that TikTok has remained on the App Store despite hosting notoriously dangerous challenges, such as the pass out challenge, bird box challenges, and the salt and ice challenge.

Down Dog Yoga took to Twitter to highlight problems they had with the Cupertino-based tech giant's App Store policies. Two main complaints include Apple's requirement that developers use the new Sign In With Apple feature and the condition that users are auto-charged after free trials end.

Wow! Apple is rejecting our latest update because we refuse to auto-charge at the end of our free trial. They can choose to steal from their customers who forget to cancel, but we won't do the same to ours. THIS IS A LINE THAT WE WILL NOT CROSS. pic.twitter.com/s9HwD4ay4h

-- Down Dog (@downdogapp)


The Coalition for App Fairness launched in September and seeks to call attention to the policies that it claims are unfair toward third-party developers.

The coalition formed at a time when Apple is undergoing multiple antitrust investigation, both in the United States and abroad.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    Over a million apps and this is what they can muster.

    The app store ain't perfect, but wow - after all of this time and PR from these companies, you'd think they'd have enough to form a union.
    Instead it's just the usual faces complaining about the same tenuous stuff. 
    williamlondonmwhitejdb8167yojimbo007lolliverericthehalfbeetmaydewmeleavingthebiggwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 19
    This is a good list of apps and developers to avoid. 
    williamlondonrotateleftbytero_ro_ur_boatn2macsmwhitejdb8167viclauyyclolliverSpamSandwichsvanstrom
  • Reply 3 of 19
    Look at that, colorful logos of companies you've never heard of!  Can't wait to see 400 more.
    williamlondonn2macslollivermatrix077watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 4 of 19
    mobirdmobird Posts: 753member
    Good for Down Dog Yoga as it relates to refusing to implement the app purchaser being auto-charged after free trials end. But we know that Apple is the final word and regardless of DDY's "principled" stand, they ultimately have to adhere to Apple's TOC's.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 19
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,251member
    Every service I've seen that has a free trial period will start charging you if you don't cancel properly. This happens all the time outside anyone's app store. Why do this app developer feel Apple is not doing their job? They'd complain if Apple didn't start charging users. You sign a contract to use a service, I don't care what service it is, and you abide by its terms. If you don't like those terms, don't use that service. This is normal business practices, just like charging developers to host, market, and sell apps. This isn't free. 
    williamlondonlolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 19
    mobird said:
    Good for Down Dog Yoga as it relates to refusing to implement the app purchaser being auto-charged after free trials end. But we know that Apple is the final word and regardless of DDY's "principled" stand, they ultimately have to adhere to Apple's TOC's.
    That's how free trials work pretty much universally. There would be a lot more than 40 developers upset with Apple if the free trials did not automatically roll over...
    williamlondonlolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 19
    It seems to me that Down Dog Yoga are asking for Apple to change the way the App Store operates just for them. Good luck in that!
    Their complaint is really petty.

    Another app NOT to even consider installing.
    lolliverwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 8 of 19
    This is a good list of apps and developers to avoid. 
    I agree. This is a list of developers that accepted and agreed to Apples terms, then turn around and cry about it. 

    It’s big red flag to me. I’d avoid them for reasons that I will never know what they will do to your information after they get it. 
    lolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 19
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    mobird said:
    Good for Down Dog Yoga as it relates to refusing to implement the app purchaser being auto-charged after free trials end. But we know that Apple is the final word and regardless of DDY's "principled" stand, they ultimately have to adhere to Apple's TOC's.
    Look at the reply Apple sent them

    The problem is that DDY have not implemented App Store Connect. My guess is that they did this to avoid paying the 30% fee to Apple, but Apple’s policy has given them a convenient smokescreen. 

    I usually cancel the sub as as soon as I agree to the trial. If you forget the you have 14 days to get a refund on receiving your receipt. 
    lolliverwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 10 of 19
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member

    mobird said:
    Good for Down Dog Yoga as it relates to refusing to implement the app purchaser being auto-charged after free trials end. But we know that Apple is the final word and regardless of DDY's "principled" stand, they ultimately have to adhere to Apple's TOC's.
    That's how free trials work pretty much universally. There would be a lot more than 40 developers upset with Apple if the free trials did not automatically roll over...
    Well, that’s also true. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 19
    So the other way to look at it is things aren’t that bad if they only have 40 developers including the shady companies that started this farce. It’s less of a coalition and more of a support group for people who can’t deal with reality. 

    So far I haven’t heard a single issue from them that would warrant some investigating. They are just complaining about how they don’t like the way app stores do business. Eristica pointed out that Tiktok has people doing dumb stunts, but couldn’t figure out that they could just put their stuff on Tiktok and bypass Apple and not have to worry about supporting an app and paying 30%. 
    lolliverRayz2016watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 19
    erioerio Posts: 28member
    “Non-profit organization” by for-profit companies 🤣
    viclauyyclolliversvanstromleavingthebiggwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 13 of 19
    jimh2jimh2 Posts: 614member
    erio said:
    “Non-profit organization” by for-profit companies 🤣
    The ultimate scam is non-profit and not for profit companies which are just tax dodgers offering dubious “help” to whatever cause they may have. 
    svanstromwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 19
    You’d see how fast how these developers change their tune if Apple suddenly told them they have to run their own payment systems and push their own updates. Last I checked Apple has less than 20% market share. These companies are angry over a tiny cut of the market. Don’t like how Apple runs the shop? Don’t develop for them. Simple. That’s what happened with the Mac long ago. 
    viclauyycwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 19
    yojimbo007yojimbo007 Posts: 1,165member
    Over a million apps and this is what they can muster.

    The app store ain't perfect, but wow - after all of this time and PR from these companies, you'd think they'd have enough to form a union.
    Instead it's just the usual faces complaining about the same tenuous stuff. 
    Usual ungrateful losers...most of whom would be nowhere if it was not for the Appstore! 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 19
    erio said:
    “Non-profit organization” by for-profit companies ߤ㦬t;/div>
    From the earlier post by AI: "Included in the founding member roster are developers like Epic Games, Spotify, and Tile. All three are development teams that have been leading the rallying cry against Apple's behavior toward developers."

    So the whole thing is a PR stunt by rich people hiding behind poor people saying that they all need to get more profit.
    edited October 2020 leavingthebiggwatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 19
    svanstrom said:
    erio said:
    “Non-profit organization” by for-profit companies ߤ㦬t;/div>
    From the earlier post by AI: "Included in the founding member roster are developers like Epic Games, Spotify, and Tile. All three are development teams that have been leading the rallying cry against Apple's behavior toward developers."

    So the whole thing is a PR stunt by rich people hiding behind poor people saying that they all need to get more profit.
    Thanks for the Tile reminder! Tile stopped innovating and started complaining that Apple was stifling innovation by requiring it to request user permission to siphon user location data and by informing users which apps were accessing their location data.

    AirTags, another target of Tile’s complaints, is shaping up to be a product Tile would have never considered spending research and development money on. Apple is innovating with location awareness in ways that are mind boggling and proving innovation is only stifled when imagination is corrupted by greed and laziness. Creating privacy-respected products can still convince millions of customers to pay money to help create thriving, sustainable multi-billion dollar businesses.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 19
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,093member
    mobird said:
    Good for Down Dog Yoga as it relates to refusing to implement the app purchaser being auto-charged after free trials end. But we know that Apple is the final word and regardless of DDY's "principled" stand, they ultimately have to adhere to Apple's TOC's.
    What you are is ignorant, an iHater, or both.

    What part of TRIAL eludes you?  A "trial" has been, and always will be about trying something out and getting charged for it once the trial ends.   Why doesn't GDDY sell it for "free" then?  It's because they're trying to skirt the 30% fee.  That's why.

    Buzz off.
  • Reply 19 of 19
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,093member

    svanstrom said:
    erio said:
    “Non-profit organization” by for-profit companies ߤ㦬t;/div>
    From the earlier post by AI: "Included in the founding member roster are developers like Epic Games, Spotify, and Tile. All three are development teams that have been leading the rallying cry against Apple's behavior toward developers."

    So the whole thing is a PR stunt by rich people hiding behind poor people saying that they all need to get more profit.
    When I first read the title "Coalition for App Fairness", I immediately thought "What?? Eh??".  My 2nd thought was "I bet Epic Games is behind this".  Sure enough... what a shocker.  *rolls eyes*

    millions of apps, and they have enough people on board that is less than a rounding error.  Shameful.
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