by Jason Snell
‘App Store – Principles and Practices’
In the face of criticism and legal entanglements from politicians, competitors, and regulators, Apple has posted a fancy PR site explaining why its App Store policies are the way they are:
We believe competition makes everything better and results in the best apps for our customers. We also care about quality over quantity, and trust over transactions. That’s why, even though other stores have more users and more app downloads, the App Store earns more money for developers. Our users trust Apple – and that trust is critical to how we operate a fair, competitive store for developer app distribution.
I have a hard time believing this page is going to change anyone’s mind, but it’s helpful to see Apple’s argument in one place. (Among the things on the page that made me raise an eyebrow is the segment about how Apple allows competition to Safari in web browsers. That’s only technically true, since different web rendering engines are barred from iOS.)