cropr

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cropr
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  • Google keeps trying to hammer on Apple for not adopting RCS

    croprcropr


    Finally, Google calls RCS an industry standard. Which it isn't, not even close. Google hasn't even adopted RCS across all of its disparate messaging platforms.

    To set a few things straight:  SMS is a telecommunication standard, defined in 1986 as part of the GSM standards, and since 1999 managed by 3GPP, which is a standardization body  that manages all the mobile telecommunication standards from 2G up to 5G.  Because SMS is a telecommunication standard (and not a data communication standard), it has some telecom characteristics: it is device agnostic (it is sufficient to swap the sim card to a new device), it can be legally intercepted (like all telecom services) and the telecom operator can charge for SMS messages.   It took a while before SMS messages could be sent between phones of different telecom operators in different countries, but eventually the SMS standard was universal 

    Every vendor of a mobile phone (smart or dumb) must implement the SMS standard, as SMS is a compulsory part of the 3GPP defined standards.  If SMS were not implemented, the telecom regulator in a country might refuse a mobile phone to become active.  (No mobile vendor ever tried it, but this option exists)

    All current messaging applications like iMessage and Whatsapp, use their own data communication protocol on the data channel in a mobile phone. For me this a sad thing as as Whatsapp message cannot be sent to a iMessage receiver or vice versa.

    As part of 5G standards, the 3GPP has defined a successor of SMS and this new standard is called RCS.  RCS is again a telecom standard, which means that again it is device agnostic (it could be implemented on dumb phones) , legal intercept must be possible and the telecom operator can charge for the use of RCS.   So Apple Insider is wrong when it claims that RCS is not an industry standard, but that is about all there is to say.  RCS is not so popular as the telecom operators and Google want it to be, and only popular standards make sense. 

    Currently RCS is not a compulsory protocol of 5G networks.  If it were the case, no iPhone would be allowed on the any 5G network.

    SMS is no longer the most used message standard for person to person communication, but it still very useful for system to person communication like for the 2nd factor of 2 factor authentication.  The fact that a telecom protocol is used as the 2nd factor (and not a data communication protocol) enhances considerably the security, even when we realize that SMS is not that secure at all.    Migrating this kind of application to RCS makes a lot of sense.  This is perhaps the main reason Apple should support RCS in the future.
    williamlondonIllus1veFileMakerFellermuthuk_vanalingamgatorguyjbdragon

  • Apple triumphant in Epic Games 'Fortnite' antitrust appeal

    croprcropr
    ericthehalfbee said:

    What I expect to happen in the EU is numerous criminals and shady developers are going to infest iPhones with malware and privacy invading features. Users will be screaming at Apple (who else will they blame) and Apple will sue the EU for instituting a law that directly caused harm to iPhone users. Unlike the imaginary harm the EU is trying to prevent by forcing 3rd party stores. 

    I don't expect that at all.  There will be a few app stores that are run by larger companies (e.g. HW  + SW vendors, banks, telecom operators...) that can established some trust.  It might look strange for Americans, but on average Europeans trust their bank more than Apple.  I can call/visit my bank manager but I cannot call/visit my Apple manager, which is a crucial element in building a trustful relation.

    There will be a few dodgy app stores that try to lure the customer, but that no normal person will ever use.  

    To make the comparison: no normal person does side load apps from the Google Play store.  And those who do, don't scream at Google.  And as a consequence Google does not sue the EU.

    But there is major risk.  If people are unaware that they install an app from a phishing app store, this could create real damage.  Of course the implementation details (can Apple impose rules?) will be relevant.
    williamlondonAlex1Nmuthuk_vanalingamelijahgroundaboutnow

  • iPhone 14 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra - compared

    croprcropr
    longfang said:
    For me Samsung is a non starter being unable to run iOS. 

    Then why did you read the article?
    fred1williamlondongrandact73

  • Paris Commercial Court fines Apple over 'abusive' App Store policy

    croprcropr
    DAalseth said:
    France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire claimed that when developers sell apps to Apple and Google, "their prices are imposed,

    OK, but developers do NOT sell their apps to either Google or Apple, the companies just host them on a storefront. Also Apple and Google do NOT impose a price, that is entirly up to the developer, free, .99, 1.99, 99.99 that’s all up to the developer. Both points are easily demonstrable, and well understood.

    Except of course to this court. 
    Well I am a European developer and there is some truth in the quote of Bruno Le Maire.

    The Apple App Store impose a lot of rules on the pricing:  as a developer I cannot give discounts for my customers who buy multiple apps from me, I cannot issue vouchers, I cannot make special "launch offers", ...
    Next to my own app development business,  I am also doing some freelance app development for other companies.  One of my European customers there had a very unpleasant pricing issue a few years ago: the app sold some valuable content and was priced the same price as in the physical shop (the prices were in Euro).    When Apple changed the EUR-USD exchange rate in the App Store, there was no longer a row in the App Store pricing list matching the one in the physical shop, which was an  issue for my customer, who wanted to leave the price in Euro as it was before the rate change, because the value of the content he sold had not changed.

    So yes the app developer can define a price, but is quite limited in a setting up a pricing strategy that is aligned with his business

    muthuk_vanalingamFileMakerFeller

  • Apple could lose all App Store revenue in EU and only take 1% hit

    croprcropr
    Hedware said:
    cropr said:
    Being an app developer myself, I might share  what I will do when 3rd party app store and payment engines will become available for iOS apps. I don't develop games, only business related apps linked to a cloud service.  My apps are all available on iOS, Android and the Web (for PC and Mac)
    1.  I will move all my apps to an app store that gives me much better marketing.    From a developer point of view the marketing of the Apple App Store sucks.   I did a survey among my customers and none of them have discovered my apps in the pApp store.     This is the main reason to move away from the Apple App Store.  In the first few years of the App Store the marketing was OK, but now there are so many apps on the App Store, that I have to provide my own marketing.
    2. My ideal app store should not impose business restrictions as the Apple App store does currently:  it should allow me to give discounts to my clients who buy multiple apps from me, it should let me distribute vouchers, it should allow special "launch offers", it should allow to have another main currency (e.g. the Euro) so that when the exchange rate changes the cost in Euro does not change, but the cost in $ does.
    3. My ideal app store should distribute iOS and Android versions of my apps, and should allow me to link the web version of my app.  I basically don't care which version of my app is downloaded.
    4. For payments I would use Ingenico, a well respected payment service provider, that I am currently using for the web version of my apps (I never had any fraud issue with Ingenico).   As such I will have 1 single payment service provider for all my apps on all devices..  Operationally this will lower the cost of my accounting and my help desk.
    I might assume that Apple after a while might react when more and more app stores becoming available.  Especially on point 2 Apple might move a bit to become more developer friendly.
     
    I will buying from Apple Store only and not from ideal app stores as you suggest. You don’t offer enough to bother buying from your store. I am not interested in having to do evaluations of the payment gateway, the privacy safeguards and the security of my information of third part app stores. There’s plenty of fish in the Apple App Store. 

    If you only buy from the Apple App Store, that is fine with me. 

    My customers tell me a different story.   I have developed an e-voting app for general assemblies of large organizations.  In this case the flow is:  I am convincing the board of the organization to use my system;  the system, payment included, is set up for 1 general assembly;  the members of the organization are invited; and the members download the iOS app, the Android app or use the web version.  So as a user of the e-voting app you do not decide which app store or payment system is being used. It is sufficient that I convince the board of the organization.    And for the board, there is only 1 major concern: the trust in the election results.
    muthuk_vanalingamwilliamlondondarkvader