Apple is required to support third-party payment systems in the EU. In the US, it is required to do so as well. The latest court order in the US is a direct consequence of Apple’s unwillingness to respect the rules. And while the courts are slowly catching up with Apple, it has another effect as well. It makes me think Apple is a terrible company I would rather not have too much interaction with.
Tech companies used to have a lot of goodwill
Google was a cool company. Not too long ago, it was a place I would have loved to work. Currently, not so much. They still have some wonderful technological projects, and I’m sure they are still a good place to work. But things in the past that made them excellent, such as criticising part of the business (and sometimes having success with it), have stopped being that way.
The same goes for Apple. Their privacy-focused stance has always garnered some respect. They stood up against overreach, even in situations that were difficult. Unfortunately, they have stopped doing that.
But Apple has this strange thing where they refuse to compete on the merits of their products, but rather build walls around their garden.
The thing I don’t understand is why the companies are doing that. I mean, Gmail is, in my opinion, still the best webmail provider. Google Search used to be good, and everyone used to use it.
The same goes for Apple. They used to make great devices and very polished software. The latest update was a bit of a mess. Though it could be argued that adding AI was a stupid idea anyway. But then again, Apple is probably also to blame for adding a feature no one has asked for.
But it goes much further than that.
Obey the damn rules
Apple is having such a hard time following the rules.
The entire industry switched to USB-C, and Apple only followed suit when they were forced by the European Union. All this while they had already switched to USB-C on their laptop and iPad devices.
Apple was—finally—forced to open up the iPhone for third-party app stores and added unnecessary fees as well as unnecessary rules. And now it has also added a warning to apps that don’t use their built-in purchasing options.
Screenshot of the Instacar app store listing.
It is so crazily petty, it makes no sense. I get that some apps would rather not use Apple’s in-app payment system, especially when that means that they will pay 30% to Apple.
But Apple’s in-app store payment system actually has a lot to gain. And if it were to compete on a level playing field, it might have a good chance and be a great option for app developers as well as customers. Most customers already have their payment method stored with Apple. The integration with the system is second to none. If it were anywhere close to the fee of competing services, Apple’s offering would probably win out.
So why are they not competing on the merits? Well, because they feel like they don’t have to. They feel the rules don’t apply to them, which is why a US district judge had to hold them in contempt.
Look, I don’t think there are any great alternatives out there. Google has a proven monopoly. Microsoft’s endeavours at being a good open-source member are still up for discussion, but I’m not hopeful.
So Apple: Start following the rules like everyone else. Make great tools and compete on their merits!