this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2023
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Privacy

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 10 months ago (8 children)

How is Google Play, which is easily circumnavigated with things like F-Droid and APKs, considered a monopoly and the Apple app store isn't?

[–] [email protected] 30 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The Apple case was decided by a judge and this by a jury, which makes a big difference

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

How exactly does a jury trial work in a case like this? Aren't juries supposed to be "peers" of the accused? How can a corporation be tried by a jury of its peers?

[–] a_fancy_kiwi 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeah but who are their peers?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)
[–] [email protected] 24 points 10 months ago (1 children)

At least in the EU Apple app store is considered a monopoly, and Apple is expected to allow third party stores during next year.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm curious how they manage a function like this differently between EU and the rest of the world.

iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.1-EU?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

GPS, mobile network tracking, IP, region the device is sold in (us iphones have a block of plastic where everyone else has a sim card slot), apple store region.

Lot of possibilities

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Possible solution are EU exports to the US then.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Also VPN, fake apple store region. If detected during download/install also RF-shielding to prevent GPS and mobile network (if download, also needs a wifi signal inside the shield to download at all).

Lot of workarounds for lot of possible detections.

[–] CaptainSpaceman 8 points 10 months ago

Basically Android makes deals with big companies, Apple charges flat rate for everyone

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

From what i read about it, Apple has a walled garden but charges a flat fee for everyone and has no special deals. Everyone pays the same and they make a little money off of the store but also the hardware sold.

Whereas Google has been caught treating certain parties differently, such as Spotify, something called Project Hug, where they gave extra benefits to parties at risk of leaving the play store, among other unequal dealings.

So the crux of the question is not about the monopoly itself, but the fact that Google is treating market players differently and throwing its weight around to influence the market to its advantage.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

has no special deals.

Spotify and Netflix technically have no special deal but bypass the fee and are not kicked. I would argue favoritism is like a special deal.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Because 90+% of people don't know what fdroid is and can't get many of the apps they need there.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Okay but just the existence of APKs and sideloading means options exist. That doesn't make a monopoly in my mind

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

That doesn't answer the question. Sure, in isolation, Android app ecosystem isn't ideal. But it's so so much better at allowing competition than the apple one.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 10 months ago

I assume because no one downloads other app stores

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


It hinged on secret revenue sharing deals between Google, smartphone makers, and big game developers, ones that Google execs internally believed were designed to keep rival app stores down.

Mind you, we don’t know what Epic has actually won quite yet — that’s up to Judge James Donato, who’ll decide what the appropriate remedies might be.

Epic never sued for monetary damages; it wants the court to tell Google that every app developer has total freedom to introduce its own app stores and its own billing systems on Android, and we don’t yet know how or even whether the judge might grant those wishes.

Both parties will meet with Judge Donato in the second week of January to discuss potential remedies.

Judge Donato has already stated that he will not grant Epic’s additional request for an anti-circumvention provision “just to be sure Google can’t reintroduce the same problems through some alternative creative solution,” as Epic lead attorney Gary Bornstein put it on November 28th.

We’ll replace it with the final signed form once we have access to a digital copy.


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