The way Apple distinguishes itself from the masses of cheap phone manufacturers with their ultra low margins is through its premium brand. The idea that Apple "just works" is part of this brand, and they fight against any claim that it doesn't, even if it's true. It's very important to them to push the idea that their operating systems are the best ones available into the brains of their users. In some industries, like the music production industry, if you don't have an Apple device, you'll be laughed out of the room. The brand is probably the single most valuable asset that Apple possesses.

Well, that’s absolutely bullcrap now since they allowed low quality ad-infested apps and clones take over the store.

Hyperbole much?

Please, could we stop using analogies using Nazi terminology whenever we strongly disagree with someone? As a consequence of Hitlers actions, hundreds of millions of people died. As a consequence of Apple's actions, many people are upset. The two aren't comparable. When I hear Nazi analogies every day, these words become meaningless.

1000 dead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Belarus

more than 450 documented cases of torture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_issues_related_to...

Apple's censorship of Telegram is condoning this.

I agree with your sentiment for this particular case but think it's crazy that you're saying Apple is condoning this when this exact same rule would have protected and prevented against situations where innocent people were on the receiving end of this information. Reddit screwed up big time, for example, when the mob went after the wrong person during the Boston bombing and people got hurt. What if the wrong person is identified? What if the identifying information is wrong? Yes, there's a moral component to all of this but there's also a precedent that you're setting and I doubt Apple wants to be in the role of deciding whether this personal info is the "right" personal info to be out there.

The whole point is that they shouldn’t be deciding at all. You can walk over to your neighbors and share that info, you can post it on Reddit, you can post it on Telegram. If it’s wrong or not should be decided by the law and community policies, not the device manufacturer.

Umm... it was. That's literally the entire issue being discussed her. The Belarusian government and law enforcement decided it was wrong and asked the developer and Apple to remove those posts.

I realize what protesters do is the only semi-peaceful way of delaing with police brutality. On the other hand, these people whose photos gets published often receive threats (and their families too). Basically the people publishing and distributing these images are responsible for what happens next. I understand Apple would prefer not to participate in this.

> I understand Apple would prefer not to participate in this.

Apple is a legal person and has to make a moral judgment call.

It made the wrong one.

It's not "your own app". It's Apple's Experience, and you are paid a commission on revenue generated by code you write for Apple to use. You are like a screenwriter or set deeigner, Apple is the director and producer.

This is actually a funny and interesting way to look at it.

This might be a way for Apple to continue doing what they do and get away with it.

(AFAIK: It is not what they currently say so they'll have to change their terms and conditions before they use this in court ;-)

You also don't own the device.

Have you never heard an inexperienced developer incorrectly blame the platform or the tools for their own bugs?

Yes, so what? It comes back to the other article on HN about YouTube arbitrating truth. Apple should not be able to dictate what goes in my changelog. If I believe it's relevant info for my userbase that I'm working around some Clang compiler bug with some change, I should be able to say it. What kind of dystopian platform is Apple running where police have to look through everything you type about your own product to make sure you haven't written any thoughtcrimes?

Apple can’t dictate what goes in your changelog.

What we are talking about here is the App Store release notes, on Apple’s site and storefront. They can indeed dictate what goes there. The fact that release notes are even displayed there is because they made a facility for that.

You can publish your changelog on your own website.

I’m failing to see the distinction you’re drawing between a changelog and release notes?

One is a business communication made via the App Store, and the other is something you can publish wherever you choose.

Sure, but in spirit I would put the same information in both. Apple's rules on that field are just strange–when a new version of iOS goes into GM out you cannot mention it in your release notes (added support for iOS 14!), which really just makes no sense. It's presented as a place to put your update notes except it's really a strange field where you put something that is similar to your update notes but edited to comply with unwritten guidelines that Apple has created that you can only really know if you read Twitter and see what kinds of things Apple will let you put there.

True - I’d generally want to put the same information in both, but there are many companies that don’t.

One is part of the retail store experience, and the other is a kind of technical note. It depends a lot on what kind of developer you are and what kind of product you make whether these are the same.

One is for end users to tell them what's new in this release vs. the last. The other is for technical purposes to document the specific technical changes from one version to the next. They're not the same thing.

> the other is something you can publish wherever you choose.

Apple has designed an illegal system, and the DOJ is going to break them up or force them to open wide. The hoops they make people jump through are ridiculous and entirely unfair. They've made people bark like a seal for far too long.

Whether true or not, this is irrelevant to the thread.

But worth pointing out that almost all storefronts control what they allow vendors to write there.

There is nothing illegal about this, and if this is making people bark like a seal, all retailers and all app stores do it.

Exactly. Walmart very well could tell their suppliers "You can't put a paper within the box saying that the price is $5 more since our logistics software misplayed your deliveries for a whole month" even if it's true.

> What kind of dystopian platform is Apple running where police have to look through everything you type about your own product to make sure you haven't written any thoughtcrimes?

What do you mean? Do you think it would be fair for Apple to allow developers to serve change logs with racial slurs or political conspiracies to young users? Literal toddlers interact with the App Store on a daily basis. The release notes are not a place to spew bile, so obviously they must be moderated to some degree. We can argue over the acceptability of them trying to blame their failings onto an innocent developer (if that was actually the case), but obviously you should not be allowed to type whatever you want in a text field that gets served to their customers.

On the other hand, the most recent Duolingo update reads:

"""Our mascot owl, Duo, is trading in his usual diet of mice for bugs this week. Yup, we’re squashing those pesky bugs to make the experience better for all of you.

For more Duolingo news, contests and product releases, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @duolingo."""

which doesn’t exactly scream “user-relevant information” to me, but does say “this is PR”.

This is the format of almost every mainstream app update now - completely devoid of any useful information. If this is what Apple wanted why even keep it around?

Yeah and I've never felt the need to go make a policy for them to not be allowed to do that.

Sure but I presume you aren’t running a platform like Apple’s.