“Apple’ Control over App store tyrannic”: Twitter and Meta bosses

John Ndlovu

A war of words has erupted amongst the owners of tech giants

In an unexpected alliance, Twitter and Meta bosses, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg respectively condemned giant Apple’s tyrannical control over the App Store.

The two said the continued control over the App Store seriously undermines profit making during interviews.

Zuckerberg’s comments came after, Twitter new owner Elon Musk, previously condemned how Apple operates the App store. Zuckerberg’s criticism of Apple appeared to support Elon Musk’s echoes over the iPhone company’s control over the App Store.

“I do think Apple has sort of singled themselves out as the only company that is trying to control like unilaterally what what apps get on a device, and I don’t think that’s a sustainable or good place to be,”

Zuckerberg commented during an interview at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit.

“I do think it is problematic for one company to be able to control what kind of app experiences get on the device,” he added.

Zuckerberg had been asked of his thoughts on Musk’s recent battle with Apple.

Last week Musk called Apple’s control over the App Store “a serious problem” and appeared to declare a “war” on Apple. The billionaire and Twitter boss stated that the tech giant had threatened to eliminate Twitter from its App Store, without providing any tangible reason.

Zuckerberg has widely criticized Apple’s policies for several years. In 2020, he accused the company of charging “monopoly rents” in the form of App Store fees and blocking competition. Musk has also criticized fees charged by Apple’s App Store which he stipulated that there were too high henceforth seriously undermined social media platforms’ capabilities of making profits especially during the post COVID-19 era.

Zuckerberg also owns the widely used Google which owns Google Play Store that operates on Android. Some of Google Play Store Apps cannot run on Apple’s iOS, operating system.

Permission has to be sought and granted by Apple for Play Store Apps to be run on devices that run on Apple’s iOS.

The Apple company controls app distribution for the iPhone and iPad, and takes between 15% and 30% of most in-app purchases made on iOS apps.

Zuckerberg condemned Apple’s policies as he alluded that they pose a risk to Meta as he sees them as one of the company’s “big competitors.”

Zuckerberg alluded and widely criticized the tech giant’s actions as he hinted that the later were selfish thus didn’t care for people’s interests but their own profit making.

“There is a conflict of interest there and it makes them not just a kind of governor that is looking out for the best of people’s interests,”

“I think they also have a lot of their own strategic interests, which makes it very challenging.”

The Facebook founder also said Apple’s new privacy policies have become very tough and stringent.

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