Pascalxx

Thought-provoking editorial and discussion! There seem to be two different debates going on here. One is about user experience and whether Apple’s App store policies are in the interest of consumers. The other is about whether Apple’s App store policies are reason for concern about anticompetitive behavior. After reading through this forum, my impression is that neither question has a straightforward answer. The argument that Apple can do what it wants because it owns the platform seems a bit simplistic in this context.

If the editorial’s description of the technical aspects of streaming games is accurate, the question about user experience is not primarily about safeguarding consumers but about consumers’ choice and discovery of products on the App store. In Apple’s favor, one could argue that it  might be confusing for users if some games lived within separate streaming apps (and several streaming apps offered the same games) and could not be discovered via the App store search function. It shouldn’t be impossible to find a solution to this problem, though, as cross search via the TV app demonstrates. On the other hand, not giving consumers the choice about whether they want to run games on device or via the cloud seems a bit patronizing.

While I won’t be using streaming services for games anytime soon because I don’t like the subscription model, I am excited that this option has become technically feasible thanks to fast internet and 5G. As an Apple user, I would love to have the option to at least try this on my iPad instead of being forced to use a non-Apple device.