Dash was removed from the macOS and iOS App Stores: Apple terminated the developer’s account without further notice and does not provide additional information.

This is a very sad thing to happen to Bogdan Popescu, sole developer of Dash: as far as I can tell, Dash is the only app he is selling at the moment, and now the exclusive iOS store was taken from him. The macOS App Store was probably more lucrative for Bogdan than selling licences on his own – at least that’s what other developers consistently report when they sell on both platforms.

So here’s another reason why Apple’s App Stores are risky for developers. Not only will search ads skew the results. And not only do you have to make up for the 30% cut by Apple. Developers have no way to defend themselves against giants like Apple (or Amazon in the realm of books, for that matter). There’s no separation of powers. The companies own these channels. It feels weird that they can do as they please, but there’s nothing to complain, really.

The power of the customer is limited, too. Do you know anybody who doesn’t have a strong opinion why his smartphone is better than someone else’s? Anybody who would switch platforms at will? Who won’t lose anything in the process or find it painful? – I don’t, and so there’s no real pressure for Apple in the long run. Not paying for the next iPhone and using Android instead is not an option for most iPhone users. It’s probably even worse with Macs. I wouldn’t want to use a Windows or a Linux PC if I can help it.