When it comes to the App Store and the Mac App Store, the two software dispensing platforms are not treated equally.
Not only do top 10 Mac App Store apps make a whole lot less than the chart toppers on iOS, but developers are noticing that Apple’s not even giving Mac app developers some of the same critical tools their counterparts enjoy on the App Store.
In a recent post discussing the many problems Mac App Store developers are faced with, Craig Hockenberry details how Apple treats OS X devs like second class citizens by not providing tools like TestFlight to Mac developers, which sucks for both developers and customers alike.
Apple has told developers that a Mac version of TestFlight is coming soon, but until it actually arrives, there’s no way to test apps that use iCloud servers. However, iOS developers have the option to upload an app build to Testflight to make sure everything works before it’s released.The differences between iOS and Mac App Store tools don’t just stop there though.
“Apple is touting analytics as an awesome new feature for developers that use the App Store to distribute their creations. It’s a huge benefit to our businesses, but only when you’re selling solely on iOS,” writes Hockenberry. ” Just yesterday, Apple did something great for developers. They now block reviews on beta OS releases. Unless that operating system is for the Mac.”
So there’s no TestFlight. No analytics. And no block on beta reviews. But Apple’s still taking the same 30% cut on apps released on the Mac App Store.
As yesterday’s earnings called showed, Apple is growing increasingly dependent on the iPhone to churn out huge profits. Allocating resources to improve the Mac App Store would likely come at a cost of taking precious talent away from more critical projects on iOS, which begs the question: At this point, wouldn’t it be better if Apple just gave up on the Mac App Store entirely? Developers already are.
Source: Furbo
