
Automated mistake by Apple kills all Mac developer’s apps - JadoJodo
https://9to5mac.com/2020/08/05/mistake-by-apple/
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makecheck
Despite the “fix”, it’s hard not to worry about the app ecosystem when:

\- There exists a way outside user control to auto-kill software with no
apparent recourse. (This time it was one set of apps but what prevents an
automation bug from bricking a bunch of other software for at least a few
hours?)

\- The explanation to the user errs on the side of “developers bad, Apple
good” (disabled software “may damage your computer”, not “Apple may have
screwed this up for you”). That’s at least unhelpful for solving the problem,
if not a lie.

\- Like many things Apple ruins for developers, they’re perfectly happy to let
users destroy your app rating and send all criticism to the developer and lean
on the developer for all tech support.

There _really_ needs to be a way for users to understand Apple’s role in all
these things. App developers _are not_ directly responsible for everything you
experience.

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valuearb
Seems like a typical mistake for automated systems. Not sure of how to fix,
not sure how Apple could manage 2+ million apps and hundreds of thousands of
developers without them.

To Apples credit, they reversed their mistake in a few hours. That’s lightning
quick for mistakes of this magnitude, and so maybe the answer is properly
staffing with live support personnel to handle customer issues with your
automated systems.

I feel as if this is something Google and Amazon could really do better. Their
automation is excellent, but when you encounter an edge case it seems
impossible to reach an actual human being. They have horror stories with
infinitely worse outcomes than this one, actual developers or merchants out of
business for weeks or months with no explanation or recourse.

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shakermakr
Considering their argument of charging 30% is of course not a lock-in tax but
to provide a quality service for both customers and developers, this is
particularly harmful to that argument.

But life will go on as it does, and 30% will continue to be banked...

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thu2111
This affects apps outside the app store.

