Re:The web is swallowing the desktop whole (2017)
by TeMPOraL on Thursday September 09, 2021 @07:27AM
(#28468506)
Yup. This bears repeating. Desktop got conquered by web tech because OS vendors had no moat around third-party software. Smartphone OSes managed to create app stores before web technologies got to the point of competing with native, so mobile OS vendors have both leverage and strong business incentive to keep apps native to their platform.
While this is less of a concern for Google (the Android supports alternative app stores, and Google would love it if we all used Chrome), switching to mobile apps will deprive Apple of a significant source of revenue derived from the App Store. Thus, it is in Apple's best interest for developers to continue writing iPhone/iPad apps and Apple receiving a chunk for each sale than for developers to write Web apps and Apple not receiving a cut.