Leverage and values for app developers

When I started using Twitter again for cross-posting, I made a few rules for myself so that I wouldn’t get pulled back into the platform. One is that I let Micro.blog post everything for me automatically, and I only favorite or reply to people when I get asked a specific question. I don’t follow anyone.

But every once in a while I feel compelled to jump in to a discussion. In reply to Joe Cieplinski’s blog post today about Apple having all the leverage, I posted this tweet:

The sad part of this is that developers actually do have leverage, but we’re just not organized and can’t agree on what is fair. It would take the whole community coming together. Most developers think that Apple’s tight control over app distribution is fine. (Spoiler: I don’t.)

Long-time readers of my blog will notice that I complain about Apple as often as I praise them. I hold Apple to a very high standard because they’ve earned it through great design and products.

I know Micro.blog isn’t perfect yet. There are many things we’d like to improve. But I’m proud that the values for the platform are consistent with everything I’ve been blogging about for 15+ years. Complaints I have against the power of big companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, and Twitter… The entire design of Micro.blog’s architecture is to do the opposite of what those companies do.

Manton Reece @manton