Apple today held its main California Streaming conference, during which it unveiled the iPhone 13, as well as updated versions of the Apple Watch and iPad mini. But a seemingly minor product announcement has caused quite a stir in the developer community: the new full software keyboard that Apple is adding to the Apple Watch.
It was just last month that Kosta Eleftheriou, the developer of FlickType, announced that its slide-based blind keyboard would be removed from the App Store due to Apple’s objections. His reasoning was unclear, with Eleftheriou saying that Apple had started rejecting app updates because it required full access to the system, which Eleftheriou argued, saying it still worked without the permissions.
A separate version would be kept for the Apple Watch, but Apple also rolled out another, telling Eleftheriou that keyboards are not allowed on the Apple Watch.
Now Apple has announced its own almost identical keyboard for the Apple Watch, and seven years after the introduction of the smartwatch, no more and no less. Eleftheriou believes that there is no chance here. “So now we know,” he wrote in a tweet. “See you in court, [Apple]Eleftheriou has already sued Apple for blocking the iPhone-based keyboard, a move it says is anti-competitive.
Sherlocking – In the past, Apple has taken ideas from the developer community and incorporated them into its products. In fact, there’s a name: “Sherlocked,” or the phenomenon in which Apple takes a popular third-party tool and makes it unnecessary by copying it directly. It has happened many times, but under the current climate where the sentiment of developers is not favorable to Apple, it seems particularly bad.
Based in California, Apple’s action against FlickType could directly violate the State’s Unfair Competition Act (UCL), which is widely written but prohibits unfair commercial acts and allows the court to order legal action to prevent unfair competition. Apple does not allow developers to offer their applications outside the App Store, that is, they must follow their rules and always be at their mercy.
Under UCL law, Apple has recently been forced by a judge to change its App Store rules and allow developers to link to external payment methods, where they don’t have to pay any commission. The developers argue that Apple’s demand to use its payment method is detrimental to competition, as they could get a better deal from another payment processor if allowed, and fees generally hurt. small businesses.
Tide change – Developers used to be much more deferential to Apple to create sleek tools and a secure marketplace to sell apps. But now they have become angry with Apple’s strict Byzantine system of rules and the 15-30% tax it charges on sales on the app.
The company is not the little rebellion it once was, but a $ 2.5 trillion giant bringing in cash. Developers can’t absorb the costs Apple charges so easily and are always at risk of losing their business, as in the case of FlickType. Apple’s demands no longer feel fair or reasonable, and critics say its defense of ensuring a safe environment for consumers is the protection for it to continue to earn billions from the App Store. Apple is believed to generate more than $ 20 billion in revenue for the App Store each year.