Developers unfortunately don't have any practical choice. As long as rich people keep buying Apple phones (I am specifically targeting phones here, because I think those are the ones that matter for this discussion, not Macbooks), this shit will continue.
Buying an Apple phone is as strong a signal as you can get that someone has a) a lot of discretionary income and b) a propensity towards paying for luxuries that no app developer who intends to make money can afford to ignore them in this "you'll own nothing and be happy" hellscape we have created.
Rich people? Everyone wants iPhones, they are by far the best smartphones.
I’m not defending Apple’s anticompetitive nonsense but this comment seems to ignore the elephant in the room about why they have the opportunity to be anticompetitive: they make the best smartphone user experience by far and consumers really really want that. They don’t understand that the censorship and racketeering comes fully integrated and inseparable (until today) with the rest of that UX.
Most users are happy to outsource the sysadminning of their phones to Apple, and the job Apple does is good enough for them. This is why iOS malware in the wild isn’t a widespread thing like it is on Android.
Anyone is free to "want" anything. But they need to be rich to actually afford it.
Also, I think it's a HN bubble thing to think that the vast majority of iPhone users know or care about Apple's fine-tuned App Store-related extortion or their privacy promises.
In fact until recently Apple had made it literally a bannable offence on the App Store to EVEN INFORM PEOPLE that Apple was taking a cut of their money.
FB collected money through their apps for charity fundraisers and Apple not only wanted 30% of that, but they refused to let FB EVEN INFORM their customers that this was happening.
I am sorry for using all caps but if you seriously do not see how insane this is becoming, we are operating on very different axioms.
Apple makes good hardware and decent software and has managed to maintain a patina of luxury and class and 'high society' for all these years, yes. Completely agreed.
Side note: I don't want an iPhone and have in 20 years of adult life never paid for an Apple product.
> Rich people? Everyone wants iPhones, they are by far the best smartphones.
Why do people think this? I've been using a Samsung Note with the Wacom stylus for over a decade. Every now and then I try an iPhone and the experience is good, but not great. The UI noticeably lags on any iPhone over a year old. The keyboard is annoying and lacks features I use, and third party keyboards don't integrate properly. No consistent back button behaviour, it's up to apps to implement and each does it differently. There is no way to sync the calendar or contacts with Webdav, not even with third party apps. So far as I know, there is no ADB equivalent.
Other than the phenomenal camera, which I think the newer Samsung S-series phones with the stylus match, I fail to see the appeal of the iPhone. Well, it is an appealing device, but not the "best" device for many workflows.
I quite like Apple hardware -- and indeed I'm typing this on a (second-hand) Macbook. I'd prefer not to have to use their software though, thank you very much. The good news is that Firefox works on pretty much everything that's not an iPhone or iPad.
Widespread malware isn't a thing on Android.
But you lost me already at "iPhones are by far the best Smartphones"
They are so crippled, I couldn't imagine using one
Many people, sure. But not everyone. I tried iPhone for some years but went back to Android. There were just too many random arbitrary restrictions for me.
Buying an Apple phone is as strong a signal as you can get that someone has a) a lot of discretionary income and b) a propensity towards paying for luxuries that no app developer who intends to make money can afford to ignore them in this "you'll own nothing and be happy" hellscape we have created.