Following Spotify‘s and Rakuten’s formal complaints, Apple is facing another antitrust complaint in the EU, this time from the developers of encrypted messenger app Telegram.
In a complaint to the EU Commission, the app’s creators argue that Apple must give iOS users the opportunity to download software outside of the App Store. The Financial Times reports:
In a complaint to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager, Telegram, which has more than 400m users, said Apple must “allow users to have the opportunity of downloading software outside of the App Store”.
Telegram is the third company after Spotify and Rakuten to formally complain to the EU Commission, which is already conducting two investigations into Apple’s App Store and Apple Pay.
MacDailyNews Take: Some 80% of smartphones are NOT Apple iPhones. Telegram is free to sell to users of iPhone wannabes if they can’t or don’t want to comply with the system Apple has built that ensures security and privacy for users. Apple does not have a monopoly in any market in which they participate.
So the questions at hand are, “What is Telegram doing that would keep it from being prominent on the Apple store?”, and, “Why do the Telegram developers feel they need to circumvent the app scrutiny that the Apple store provides as quality assurance to iPhone and iPad users?”
The real bottom line, as I understand it, for the vast majority of these complaining developers is they don’t want to follow the rules that Apple applies to everyone. They want to do things 100% their own way. If they can’t do that they complain, sometimes to the community, sometimes filing legal complaints.
Hopefully this is a case that Apple’s crack legal team (full sarcasm!) will not screw up!
The question is why can’t Telegram’s customers get Telegram for their iOS devices without needing to check with Apple.
Asking for a friend, not power user, just what does Telegram do that Apple’s Messaging doesn’t? What am I missing? How many messaging apps does a person need?
I don’t know, but it’s not the point. What I say is for any app really.
But why would you want any app in the firsts place? It seems to me you would want the best app, and Apple does the hard work for you to assure that you get the best app.
Also, why torture yourself with iPhone and its restrictions when you have plenty of non-iPhone devices with their own set of milder restrictions?
I will be the arbiter for myself, or I will just take Apple’s recommendation. My choice, not Apple’s.
You don’t need most of the apps in the store 1 thousand apps would be enough.
Who decides that for me? You, Apple, or me?
I may want to run a Voodoo Hydroxychloroquine Psychodynamic Resonator. Who’s to judge?
Cross Platform fully end to end encrypted messaging… imessage is for the small tiny apple market only. there is also signal, which is probably better anyways.
telegram is already on the app store.. so thats is weird.
Because they will f up your iPhone, iPad, or computer.
So why would you care if I decide to take that risk? It does not impact you.
If that is the way you feel, get an Android. They come pre-fd-up.
I do have Android, but I have iPads too.
I know you think this is irrelevant, but you know almost infinitely more about computer security than the average user. You are capable of giving your informed consent after informing yourself of the potential risks. Most users aren’t. They want something that “just works,” and will never take the trouble to learn the minimum necessary to download unvetted software safely. That is unfortunate, but it is reality. My 94-year-old mother is never going to understand cybercrime, and neither is my preteen grandniece.
As for how it might impact me, there is the chance that somebody’s infected phone might infect mine via an email or message. There is also the amount of time I might spend trying to fix the infected devices used by my friends and family.
TxUser,
Thank you for your flattering words, but that plays to the lowest common denominator user.
Mandatory IT services are confining.
Btw… if a friends jailbroken phone didn’t do that yet, then it’s not in the cards.
“So why would you care if I decide to take that risk? It does not impact you.”
TxUser just explained how you taking that risk could impact him and your response was that you don’t give a crap. What a great guy you are. Real concern for the community. Oh you’re the lowest common denominator? Well too bad for you I guess. We can’t have a system that takes care of that type of user it just isn’t worth the trouble.
I’m not forcing TxUser to take any risk.
Don’t impede me.
Because it COULD impact the entire Apple ecosystem. That’s why the Android OS is full of malware, over four million and counting. Is that what you want?
The Chinese market found a way to side-load non-approved apps onto iPhones using corporate management certificates until Apple lowered the boom on them. They had a number of third-party app stores selling non-approved apps and by the time Apple shut down the availability of the borrowed management certificates, over 4000 malware and actual virus apps got onto those stores along with a malicious version of X-tools called X-ghost which installed malware hidden inside apps some that wound up being used to construct some apps that wound up on the Actual Chinese version of Apple’s App Store. Is THAT what you want??? A Wild West Free for all of malware and anything goes on iOS???
Currently, there are at least 2.5B active Android OS devices, so Telegram should just develop for Android OS to make all the money they can. Seriously, that should be more than enough users and they can avoid Apple’s restrictions. Anything goes on the Android OS platform.
Can’t Telegram use the Cydia AppStore for downloading if they don’t want to use the App Store. There must be plenty of jailbroken iPhones out there.
https://apps.apple.com/app/telegram-messenger/id686449807
this is such non news, #4 on the apple app store for social networking….
Does anyone know why they are complaining?
Telegram is in the App Store, one of the most successful messaging apps, and free on all platforms so they don’t even need to pay the App Store tax. It’s open source to the users that don’t want or can’t use App Store (who are those?) can download sources from github and compile it themselves.
So how does using App Store hurt their business or customers? Could be something to do with cryptocurrency rules but Telegram’s crypto project was already shot down by SEC.
Maybe they love open too much, and it’s just a political thing, with no real world reason.
They want out of the App Store so they can install the government encryption back doors being asked for by all governments. 🙂
Threema is a great alternative.