Some specific benefits competitive apps stores could provide (within the general benefits of competition and innovation):
1. The open source app store. The git hub app store. Open source apps easily prepped by developers and installed and updated by regular users. With source and build files.
2. The developer tools app store. Real developer tools on iOS devices.
3. Lower app store vigs. Lower app prices. Allow the lowest cost part of the market to drop prices further. I would love to buy tiny solid 0.25 cent apps without ads. Maker markets without a parasitical Apple tax.
4. The ad free app store. Sorry I even imagined it, it just hurts to think about it.
5. And the no "in-app purchase" store. Only for substantial apps worth paying for up front. Use forever, or choose to pay again for an upgrade you actually want.
6. Children's only app store, with high safety bars of all kinds. Very parent friendly.
7. Formally verified app store. Starts small, but learns. Meantime, more safety than Apple can deliver by one astronomical unit. Pushing Apple to improve its safety MORE.
8. Different kinds of app infrastructure. Streaming apps and games from anyone. Better systems for software versioning, updating, cross-app plug-in mechanisms.
9. One shop app-stores that deliver different kinds of versioning, upgrading, and other kinds of support that Apple doesn't in a coherent manner.
10. The very safe no-code app store. Sorry, app stores with different approaches! Very sandboxed, but very easy for technically literate non-coders to create simple tools for anyone to use. Given the solid sandboxing, and restricted "source", no barriers for anyone to contribute their app. Maker friendly.
11. The novelty developers 1k-byte app store. It's just for fun but how cool would that be. Innovation in efficiency as a game. Other developer app store experiments. Innovation comes from freedom. (Had to turn this list up to 11.)
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None of these inconvenience those who wish to stay on Apple's store.
They will only push Apple to increase its selling-point safety futher, while, while dropping anti-innovative self-interested restrictions it has misleadingly defended, like its prohibition on other web engines ("But the safety!").
Any other ideas for app stores that deliver useful differences?
When the App store was new, the "free" apps were actually free. Now practically all of the "free" apps featured on the app store are not free at all. Half the time you can't even do anything without paying, but you only find this out after going through the hassle of downloading the app.
A better app store would make pricing actually clear before you download the app, instead of the nightmare that pretend "free" apps have created.
The app store and the Google play store are absolute garbage as far as I'm concerned.
Whatever protection they claim to offer is utterly bogus. If anything, they make it easier to leak personal information to random app makers, who, like you said, offer paid apps masquerading as free ones.
The amount of junk in the native app stores is just way too high for me to ever buy the argument that they're there to improve end user experience.
1. The open source app store. The git hub app store. Open source apps easily prepped by developers and installed and updated by regular users. With source and build files.
2. The developer tools app store. Real developer tools on iOS devices.
3. Lower app store vigs. Lower app prices. Allow the lowest cost part of the market to drop prices further. I would love to buy tiny solid 0.25 cent apps without ads. Maker markets without a parasitical Apple tax.
4. The ad free app store. Sorry I even imagined it, it just hurts to think about it.
5. And the no "in-app purchase" store. Only for substantial apps worth paying for up front. Use forever, or choose to pay again for an upgrade you actually want.
6. Children's only app store, with high safety bars of all kinds. Very parent friendly.
7. Formally verified app store. Starts small, but learns. Meantime, more safety than Apple can deliver by one astronomical unit. Pushing Apple to improve its safety MORE.
8. Different kinds of app infrastructure. Streaming apps and games from anyone. Better systems for software versioning, updating, cross-app plug-in mechanisms.
9. One shop app-stores that deliver different kinds of versioning, upgrading, and other kinds of support that Apple doesn't in a coherent manner.
10. The very safe no-code app store. Sorry, app stores with different approaches! Very sandboxed, but very easy for technically literate non-coders to create simple tools for anyone to use. Given the solid sandboxing, and restricted "source", no barriers for anyone to contribute their app. Maker friendly.
11. The novelty developers 1k-byte app store. It's just for fun but how cool would that be. Innovation in efficiency as a game. Other developer app store experiments. Innovation comes from freedom. (Had to turn this list up to 11.)
--
None of these inconvenience those who wish to stay on Apple's store.
They will only push Apple to increase its selling-point safety futher, while, while dropping anti-innovative self-interested restrictions it has misleadingly defended, like its prohibition on other web engines ("But the safety!").
Any other ideas for app stores that deliver useful differences?