[pornel]

I've used to excuse such behaviors, saying that Apple has better integration between their products, cares about UI design more than anybody else, or that such integrations are new and don't have proper APIs yet.

However, years have passed, and Apple has been systematically giving preferential treatment to their apps and services, while dragging their feet on APIs for 3rd parties.

They keep using genuinely useful aspects of the App Store as a shield for anti-competitive abuse and petty rules (only in Apple's imagination allowing apps to mention other platforms is the same thing as allowing malware).

They've been spreading FUD and presenting false dichotomies that it's either exactly Apple's way, or chaos and malware. Instead of creating safe and efficient APIs for 3rd party browser engines, they chose not to have competition for Safari instead. Instead of creating APIs for easy centralized subscription management, they conveniently kept it exclusive to their own subscriptions, with pricing that can only be sustained in a duopoly.

Apple had plenty of time, and lots of chances to ease off their worst anti-competitive behaviors to keep regulators away, but instead they've doubled down on owning the platform and their users, and are now throwing tamper tantrums and malicious compliance.

[ziddoap]

I appreciate the more thoughtful comment! I agree with some of it, and disagree with some of it -- which isn't possible when you try and boil it down into a one-liner.