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    Bit Splitting

    bitsplitting.org · Personal blog · on HN since 2012

    Blog on Apple platforms, software development, open source licensing and app business issues.

    Visit blogRSSHN submissions
    Mobile & AppleBusiness & Strategy
    What HN says

    HN commenters link it on Apple's app stores and their restrictions, and on Apple's internal secrecy practices.

    Stats for nerds
    28HN people shared it
    43linked in comments
    159story points
    Jan 2022last shared
    2014people per year2022

    Top posts on HN

    1. 1
      Apparently macOS sometimes just kills some apps randomly
      1 person · 40 points · first shared 2022 · 16 comments on HN
    2. 2
      A Real Gatekeeper
      1 person · 20 points · first shared 2019 · 3 comments on HN
    3. 3
      The Imperfect Craft
      1 person · 13 points · first shared 2013 · 5 comments on HN
    4. 4
      The Price of GPL
      2 people · 10 points · first shared 2016 · 3 comments on HN
    5. 5
      Ersatz Free Trials
      5 people · 9 points · first shared 2018 · Discussion on HN
    6. 6
      Spelunking Apple’s Open Source
      1 person · 9 points · first shared 2023 · Discussion on HN
    7. 7
      End WWDC
      1 person · 8 points · first shared 2013 · Discussion on HN
    8. 8
      MacOS Terminal Security Profiles
      1 person · 4 points · first shared 2018 · Discussion on HN
    9. 9
      Log Littering
      2 people · 3 points · first shared 2016 · Discussion on HN
    10. 10
      Whither Help Scout?
      2 people · 3 points · first shared 2025 · Discussion on HN

    What HN people wrote when they linked it

    • newscrackerNov 2018

      TL;DR The app stores are messy to deal with and come with many restrictions that shouldn't be there, considering they're completely Apple's solutions, and Apple could do a whole lot more within its control (but has not been doing so far after all these years). Conversely, the only reason the App Store on iOS and tvOS are used is because there's no other way to distribute the apps to a large base of customers (at least for non-jailbroken devices).

      Why many apps don't use the Mac App Store:

      1. It's primarily because software distribution on the Mac had different mechanisms maintained by developers for decades (or from before the iOS App Store and the Mac App Store came to be). Many old time customers are used to buying direct from developers and having a way to have a direct contact with the developer. For example, AgileBits (maker of 1Password) had to go back to retaining its own sale/distribution mechanisms after declaring that it's going MAS only because of long standing customer backlash (and probably acknowledging that it was anyway forced to maintain this for its Windows app at that time).

      2. The App Store on iOS is deficient in many ways, when you consider that it doesn't allow (easily implemented) trials, upgrades, etc., that many users from the PC/Mac computers side are used to. The Mac App Store is even worse than that. Read this mess about free trials on the App Store (iOS) from a few months ago (June 2018), written by developer Daniel Jalkut of MarsEdit fame.…

    • iSnowJan 2022

      Could be related to the decision to remove individual names from the product about boxes back when Jobs came back to better control leaking of internal information and cut down on poaching. I would think that Apple does not want anyone to know who is working on the screen capture APIs as this PR would probably come from one member of that group

      "When Steve came back, one of his company-wide edicts was that the names of individuals must be removed from about boxes."

      https://bitsplitting.org/2014/01/24/cant-take-that-away/

    • damon_cFeb 2014

      You must have figured out how they score the different numbers. 96 is like 780 points, 192 gets 3500, 384 gets around 6200 points, 768 gets 22000 or so... Did you find an obvious pattern? I was curious about this but too busy enjoying the game to think about it.

      *edit
      Someone figured it out here: http://bitsplitting.org/2014/02/11/threes-scoring/

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