Jobs was right. Apps are so shitty now I don't even bother. Everything has a subscription now and there's so much noise its hard to actually find signal on the appstore.

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vor_ an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Of course he wasn't right. Apps instantly became a signature part of the iPhone experience and a huge success story for the platform.

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qzw 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Imagine if he had stuck to his guns on native apps. iPhone would’ve either died or we’d all be living in a web apps paradise right now.

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benoau 6 hours ago | parent [-]

It wouldn't have died - most apps are still just a thin UI over a corresponding online service, and most of the data and services proprietary APIs provide ended up achievable in a browser too. It is really just the internet that makes apps and smartphones useful.

All apps really offered was a way to gatekeep payments in games that groom impulsive spending habits, they just happened to start making very serious money on Facebook right about the moment Jobs changed his mind.

	▲	asdff 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Early on it was different with a lot more stuff actually running locally vs cloud service era. App store predated that for a little bit actually. There weren't microtransactions initially either. What you'd call a AAA game for that platform back then would actually be $9.99 one time payment.

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idiotsecant 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

OK...but basically everyone uses custom apps because they are tremendously useful. You'd just ban all of them?