Thursday, March 14, 2019

App Store Covers RSS Readers

Apple:

This story can only be viewed on the App Store in iOS 11 or later on your iPhone or iPad.

Brent Simmons:

The bummer about these articles is that the full thing can only be read in the iOS App Store. It would be nice if they actually appeared on the web, too.

I’d like the entire store to work in a browser.

Jeff Johnson:

And if only you could follow daily App Store features using some open internet format like... RSS?

4 Comments RSS · Twitter


I have long wondered why I could not use the web to buy music, apps, etc from Apple. Even when I had a plethora of Apple devices, there were still times I was not in front of them, so I couldn't actually buy anything at that moment. The increased friction meant I generally forewent the purchase.

On the flip side, I can log into my account on Google Play and purchase an app for any of my registered devices. E.g. If my daughter wants a game, I can buy the app and push it to her device, all from the web interface. Very slick, even if I did not own an Android device myself, I can manage other Android devices. I know, I know, crazy talk.

Anyhow, everything Apple does it about lock-in so I am unsure if the course can be reversed at this point. We can note each instance, discuss the downsides, but ultimately teeth gnashing to no avail.


I do agree that it's funny to only be able to read an article, about RSS no less, from within an app that's locked to a single platform. Seems clueless. Apple could have this nice little section of company blogs and people could subscribe to them via RSS. In addition, the articles could appear in a section of the relevant app as well. So all angles are covered, Apple website, RSS, Apps, information is freely available. Yay for everyone! Sigh…


@Nathan Even with an Apple device, a browser sometimes works better. For example, you can open multiple windows and search within the window. Browsers feel faster than the App Store and iTunes Store, too.


Related: I've never understood why I can't even purchase an iPad app from my iPhone. That's bit me a couple times, when I've been traveling for a few days without my iPad, and an app goes on sale for 24 hours, and there's no way for me to buy the iPad version from my iPhone. Stupid.

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