Apple's New Developer Program - Combines All Platform SDK's into a $100 Annual Fee, But With Some Side Effects?

[cesrai]

Especially when it's true.

Do you actually know what the argument is about ?

 

So True my Athlon is enjoying it's K70.

[LAwLz]

Well yeah! ...reason and arguments! Because most people here don't know how development works (and companies for that matter) and want stuff for free (you might have noticed how whenever Linus posts a picture with 20 headphones or 10 dGPUs people want a giveaway). But don't you dare touch the games because they are worth every cent! On that matter, $100 might be too much for individuals that are trying to start from scratch.

Spoken like someone who don't know how development works, especially not browser addon development.

 

A lot of times it's something people do for fun and because they are nice. A lot of people probably won't even bother if they have to pay 100 dollars a year. I mean, ask @colonel_mortis if we would want to pay 100 dollars a year just for the Safari version of the LTT addon. Not sure how long the addon has existed but let's say 3 years (about as long as the forum has existed at this point). That's 300 dollars, with 100 dollars being flushed down the drain each year, just to support a single browser because Apple want to be different.

[cesrai]

True, but if instead you want to make a browser extension it's hard not to feel a little ripped off... considering chrome and firefox let you do that for much less. It's not crazy, but there probably should be a dedicated option for extension-only developers.

Yes, there should be a separate option.

[Guest Kloaked]

Do you actually know what the argument is about ?

So True my Athlon is enjoying it's K70.

I don't know what that means.

I know what my argument was about..

[cesrai]

I don't know what that means.

Ignore that then.

I know what my argument was about..

On LTT, we freak out about a $100 annual fee but we're sure as hell going to buy up the overpriced gaming-marketed hardware.

And your argument made sense because people were actually freaking out and not talking about that drawback and why the person the OP mentioned needed to pay that 100$ annually while chrome and FF is way cheaper. and there should be a separate option. /s

You came here saying people were freaking out while they weren't and I don't even think what they were discussing.

[Bouzoo]

Spoken like someone who don't know how development works, especially not browser addon development.

 

A lot of times it's something people do for fun and because they are nice. A lot of people probably won't even bother if they have to pay 100 dollars a year. I mean, ask @colonel_mortis if we would want to pay 100 dollars a year just for the Safari version of the LTT addon. Not sure how long the addon has existed but let's say 3 years (about as long as the forum has existed at this point). That's 300 dollars, with 100 dollars being flushed down the drain each year, just to support a single browser because Apple want to be different.

 

In the other post (my first post) that I did, before this one, I said that I don't think paying $100 dollars a year is a good idea since not everyone will need all SDKs. What I meant is that you should have an option to pay only for what you need.

If you need that specific API or tool then you might pay, let's say $10 max. If you need more then you might purchase them in a different package for let's say another $10. And if you need all then let's say $50 (more SDKs would mean bigger discount, if 1 costs $1, then 10 would cost $0.50 per piece meaning all would cost $5. These are example prices).

Should they be charged? I think that's fine, as long as you're doing it for business and the prices are not, well Apple prices. If you're an individual that likes to have fun, then they might have a "limited package". Or they might have a full SDK option for download for free and every single one would have a serial number. When you implement your addon Apple could see if it was based on a paid SDP or on a free one. If it's a "company based" addon but it was based on free they could take it down until you pay the fee and if it's "for fun" then they could just leave it. 

$100 for a simple add on? How about no, on that I agree. This whole idea might be ok, if they give more options and not just 1 expensive option for everyone. So if they had to pay $30 for 3 years for 1 add on, I think that's reasonable. There are ways for making everyone happy. And what I said about the companies (especially ones like Apple), this should not come as a shock. In the end it's the companies good will if they want to give something for free. Do I like it if it's free? Absolutely, but that doesn't mean they don't have the right to charge, even if it may be a dick move.

Did I make you happy now? 

Edited June 10, 2015 by Bouzoo

[colonel_mortis]

I wonder what this means for things like Unreal Engine games, where (to the best of my knowlege) the only time you ever had to pay Apple is if you want to submit it to the Mac App Store (though I might be completely wrong). Is UE going to have to start charging people if they want to support OSX? If so, there goes OSX game support.

The iOS developer fee is one of the (many) reasons why I have never considered working on an iOS app, and now I have to pay to create anything else for Apple products as well? There goes any chance of me ever supporting Apple as an individual developer (for companies, obviously this is less of an issue).

 

Spoken like someone who don't know how development works, especially not browser addon development.

 

A lot of times it's something people do for fun and because they are nice. A lot of people probably won't even bother if they have to pay 100 dollars a year. I mean, ask @colonel_mortis if we would want to pay 100 dollars a year just for the Safari version of the LTT addon. Not sure how long the addon has existed but let's say 3 years (about as long as the forum has existed at this point). That's 300 dollars, with 100 dollars being flushed down the drain each year, just to support a single browser because Apple want to be different.

1½ years, but indeed there is no chance that I would pay anything like that much to support any browser. If Firefox turned around and said that I would have to pay $30/year (let alone $100pa), Firefox would be losing the LTT Notifier (and a considerable number of other addons for that matter).

[LAwLz]

I wonder what this means for things like Unreal Engine games, where (to the best of my knowlege) the only time you ever had to pay Apple is if you want to submit it to the Mac App Store (though I might be completely wrong). Is UE going to have to start charging people if they want to support OSX? If so, there goes OSX game support.

The iOS developer fee is one of the (many) reasons why I have never considered working on an iOS app, and now I have to pay to create anything else for Apple products as well? There goes any chance of me ever supporting Apple as an individual developer (for companies, obviously this is less of an issue).

Developers will have to pay for the games too, since they already have to do that.

Only programs from the app store or certified developers are allowed to be installed on OS X (by default, because of Gatekeeper). I really doubt they will just completely remove the option to install non-certified programs but as it stands today, you need to be certified by Apple if you want users to be able to install your game without having to disable "security" features.

 

 

 

1½ years, but indeed there is no chance that I would pay anything like that much to support any browser. If Firefox turned around and said that I would have to pay $30/year (let alone $100pa), Firefox would be losing the LTT Notifier (and a considerable number of other addons for that matter).

Speaking of Firefox. I hope you're aware that Mozilla has decided to enforce signature checking on extensions. Don't think it will apply to userscripts though but I thought I'd give you a heads up in case it stops working.

Seems like getting a signature from Mozilla will be free though, so that's good.

[colonel_mortis]

Developers will have to pay for the games too, since they already have to do that.

Only programs from the app store or certified developers are allowed to be installed on OS X (by default, because of Gatekeeper). I really doubt they will just completely remove the option to install non-certified programs but as it stands today, you need to be certified by Apple if you want users to be able to install your game without having to disable "security" features.

Ah, that makes sense.

 

Speaking of Firefox. I hope you're aware that Mozilla has decided to enforce signature checking on extensions. Don't think it will apply to userscripts though but I thought I'd give you a heads up in case it stops working.

Seems like getting a signature from Mozilla will be free though, so that's good.

Yeah, the LTT Notifier is already signed, and the user scripts use greasemonkey, which doesn't require the scripts to be signed.