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I agree - clumsy is a great way to describe their approach. In my many negative experiences with the review process, I never got the sense that there was evil i
by amitmathew 5y ago
I agree - clumsy is a great way to describe their approach. In my many negative experiences with the review process, I never got the sense that there was evil intent. In the end, it's clear the business as a whole doesn't care about third-party developers - they fulfilled their goals of commoditizing their complements and rode that wave to enduring success.
I do wonder how many amazing products and companies never got started or failed because of their fickle and Kafkaesque review process and their 15-30% revenue cut. For me personally, I've had to nix several business ideas and product features because it was too dependent on Apple's whims.
But that's just Apple being Apple. What really blows my mind is how Google blindly followed Apple. Google could have carved out such a valuable market. No developer fees! Clear and consistent review process! No taking 30%! Instead they blindly walked into the ditch with Apple. Talk about a lack of vision...
- grishka 5y agoThe use of Google Play is at least not mandatory. You can fully DIY your app distribution if you feel like it.
- throwaway2048 5y agoYep, Google completely ignored why platforms like the PC beat the Macintosh to begin with
- scarface74 5y agoIsn’t Android the same Pyrrhic victory that Windows was for PC Makers? All of the market share but none of the profit? No PC maker is making any real money selling PCs just like no Android manufactures are making real money. At least MS made some decent money on Windows. Google has to pay its competitor Apple more than it makes on Android if you extrapolate what came out during the Oracle lawsuit.
- ido 5y agoDid they though? Apple is today by far the most profitable computer manufacturer.
- spicybright 5y agoWe call it a ditch, Google execs call it good returns.
- enos_feedler 5y agoI worked for Google at the time of the Fortnite fiasco and challenged the company on why we didn’t use our “beyond status quo” spirit to innovate the business model. It got raised to the top of our all hands dory and the Play store director had to come on stage to address the question. Scripted response. Scheduled a follow up 1:1 through his admin. Sat in a room for 30 minutes while he fed me bullshit. Walked away convinced Google culture is dead. No longer work at Google
- quambene 5y agoThanks for trying. Difficult to change a business model if it's working quite well (financially). Long-term thinking and short-term bonus payments don't align. Kudos for your decision to leave.
- enos_feedler 5y agoYes, sadly. Google is operating on a “what can we get away with?” attitude vs a “what is possible?” one. No single 3P has power to change the system.
- Ruphin 5y agoJust curious, what does 3P stand for?
- enos_feedler 5y ago3rd party developer.
- tidenly 5y agoMeans something very different in some asian languages haha
- ocdtrekkie 5y agoUltimately, you ran into reality: That no matter what story these companies sell you on their mission, a 30% profit margin is a 30% profit margin, and not a single person is going to stand in the way of that much profit. The honest truth is Google culture never existed, they just had most people fooled for a long time.
- intrasight 5y ago> too dependent on Apple's whims so why not just make a web app?
- kaladin-jasnah 5y agoWeb apps cannot use certain features, eg. Bluetooth, and it will for sure be less user-friendly and responsive than a native app.
- intrasight 5y agoBluetooth? I don't have any apps that use that.