Another Tumblr dev here:
That's not even going into the monetization pieces. As we are implementing tipping and multi-merchant subscriptions in Post+, we still have to use In-App-Purchases with it's severely lacking API.
The hoops we have to go through to get money from our App Store account to merchants are insane. We are using Stripe Connect infrastructure and Payouts API to do that, and that would be totally fine, as well as taking the fee hit.
The most insane thing is that the subscriber can be in a number of countries, where Apple fees differ (as they contain tax). But the webhook does not contain this information, so we had to reverse engineer the whole Apple pricing matrix and the fee calculation for each subscriber to know what portion to forward onto the Stripe account, and so on and so on.
It's been a ride.
Why do you deal with the app store and don't focus on web-only
Many, many users expect every single thing to be an app
But you're incentivizing that behavior. How does that help (and tumblr is a blog, it s more usable as a website than as a website-in-an-app
Our main business is not fighting Apple, although we support the open web quite a bit by leading the WordPress project https://www.protocol.com/matt-mullenweg
Sorry i m not trying to fight you nor did i say you have to fight apple, just maybe don't shove the app store on people's faces (I bet you don't have a "view tumblr on the web" link in the app). I m very grateful about wordpress , and we need more things to be open like wordpress , not gated behind overlords.
This clearly isn't the whole truth given tumbler has a large banner asking you to download the app when you surf to the website.
It is the whole truth. App users come back more often and Apple deserves their share of credit
Um... Do you not see his this post is contradictory? In your last post, you said the reason was user expectation. Here you first say that's the whole truth, them immediately contradict yourself and say it's actually about stickiness, not expectations - apps are more addictive than webpages - a reason totally different than the "whole truth" you gave previously.
The App form factor is better suited to the user mental model of something they use daily. It has both higher stickiness AND it slots with their expectations. I made a mental shortcut of bundling these 2 together.
By definition I cannot provide the entire truth because only a slice of reality is available to me.
As such, the only "not contradictory" response to "is this entire truth" is no. Ergo you are correct.
I don't expect it to be an app. Why do you direct me to the webpage? Is it because you think I'll use your service more if it's an app? That's something you are doing for *you*, taking advantage of my addictive behavior, not something you are doing for *my* expectation.
It's not a partial truth in a tautological way. I'm saying something meaningful - please assume good faith and engage in good faith.
So maybe don't have an iOS app and put a big banner where app links are that "we don't have an iOS app because of Apple's app store practices, learn more here".
We are not Epic :)