There is seemingly no end to the ways that tech companies — and there are many of them — will yell at Apple these days. Some of the ire comes from small developers who are rightfully frustrated that they have to fork over a big percentage of their revenue to Apple, the gatekeeper of the iOS App Store. But what’s still sort of surprising is the number of other tech giants who have clambered up onto their soapboxes to point a finger at Apple. One company in particular is Facebook.
An exclusive report from The Information reveals just how deep Facebook’s animosity toward Apple goes. According to Facebook’s head of Messenger, Stan Chudnovsky, Apple refuses to allow iPhone users to set Facebook’s Messenger app as their default messaging tool.
Chudnovksy revealed that Facebook asked Apple several times over the years to consider letting its users change their default messaging app, like Android owners can do. But Apple has always said no.
“We feel people should be able to choose different messaging apps and the default on their phone,” Chudnovsky told The Information. “Generally, everything is moving this direction anyway.”
Some people might want to use the messaging app that comes with their phone. Some might want to replace it with Messenger or another service. Either is fine, and that’s the ethos of the Android platform. But Apple’s fixation on security and privacy creates a walled garden that limits consumer choice.
Chudnovsky told The Information that if Apple took a more Android-like approach to its iPhone, then Facebook could compete more fairly in the messaging app space.
I know, I know. It’s tough to muster any sympathy for Facebook. But the social networking giant isn’t the only one that has issues with Apple’s walled garden.
[referenced id=”1511808″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/09/the-rallying-cry-against-apples-app-store-policies-is-getting-louder/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/25/qahl4l110ebbf07vexba-300×169.jpg” title=”The Rallying Cry Against Apple’s App Store Policies is Getting Louder” excerpt=”Several developers and organisations have banded together to lead a campaign against Apple’s App Store policies. Announced today, the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) is a new nonprofit dedicated to fighting for fair, competitive practices across the app ecosystem. The CAF’s founding members include Epic Games, Basecamp, European Publishers Council,…”]
A new nonprofit coalition dedicated to fair, competitive practices across the app ecosystem launched this week, comprised of several companies who have gone toe-to-toe over Apple’s policies (cough, Epic Games, cough).
Facebook did score a minor win over Apple today, though. According to The Verge, Apple will temporarily stop taking a 30% per cent cut of Facebook event fees. Facebook has contested the revenue share with Apple ever since it rolled out the events feature, which helps individuals and business recoup some of their loses from not being able to hold in-person events due to covid-19. On the other hand, Apple still will not let iPhone users play games via Facebook Gaming, citing its App Store guidelines regarding cloud streaming. Facebook had to launch its app without games on iOS just to be allowed in the App Store.
But Facebook is not only under an antitrust investigation by the Department of Justice, along with Apple, but also facing many, many other problems: censoring its employees’ free speech; not taking action against violent groups organising events; routinely ignoring efforts to manipulate elections; and collecting and storing users’ biometric data without their consent, just to name a few.
If this tech giant vs. tech giant thing is starting to wear on you a little bit, you’re not the only one. Does Facebook have the right to be frustrated with Apple? Sure. But Facebook itself is so plainly awful that it’s probably not the best representative to battle Apple over its unfair policies.