First Adult Store for iOS — What do you think?

[annie888]

Hey guys,
I'd love to get your thoughts on something. I'm part of a team that's developed and recently launched the first-ever Adult iOS alternative app store. Installing apps on an iPhone or iPad has always been a challenge, right? And Apple certainly hasn't made it any easier.

So, our team decided to turn this challenge into an opportunity and make it a whole lot simpler for all iOS users interested in adult content. We’re trying to make our platform smooth and easy to use, just like the App Store experience. Plus, we plan to handle the repackaging of all unaccessible iOS adult games for our store on our own.

But we do have some concerns, and I'd genuinely like to gather feedback from those who are passionate about this niche. We want to better understand how well we've managed to simplify this process.

To keep this ship sailing and streamline how users install applications, we've had to introduce a subscription fee of $9,99/m to cover the expenses involved in maintaining this service, including the fees we pay to Apple for each connected device.

Our catalog is currently being updated with games like:

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

What games or content would you like to see added? What are the absolute must-haves that you’d love to see? Feel free to share your top picks.

And honestly, what do you think about this whole idea? Is it something you’d want to dive into?
If this sounds interesting to you, we're prepared to offer a limited number of people the chance to test the store for free in exchange for honest, direct feedback.
So, just text me if you'd like to test it out.

For more info, here are the links:
Game catalog:

You must be registered to see the links

Store landing page:

You must be registered to see the links

Can't wait to hear what you think!

 

[Tukann]

The workaround you're using to install unapproved apps, how vulnerable is it to a takedown by Apple? What are the limitations?

How big is your current userbase?

 

[anne O'nymous]

I'm part of a team that's developed and recently launched the first-ever Adult iOS alternative app store.

Europe based the team ?

I'm asking because so far the use of any application not coming from the Apple Store is illegal, and void the user warranty. Plus, like it's not just an application, but a store that try to institutionalize the process, the chances are high that Apple decide to sue you.
Except if the team is Europe based, and if you wait still few weeks, because Apple finally decided to comply with the

You must be registered to see the links

and therefore agree to let other stores appear... in a near future.


This being said, even that compliance with the DMA will not change one thing: Apple viscerally hate +18 content.

And it happen that Apple is really stuck up when it come to the public perception of their products, to the point that you can't make a movie where a bad guy would use one of them. So, imagine if you try to make +18 application run on iOS...
Of course, if someone decided to make such movie, the only thing they could do would be to sue them. Then they would probably lost the case. But winning wouldn't be their goal here. They would rely on their millions dollars lawyers to make the process last for years and cost to the production more than what they would have earned with the movie.
So, I have no doubt that they wouldn't hesitate a single second to goes after a store that would be dedicated to what they hate the most, +18 content. Like I have no doubt that it would make you in debt for 5 generations before the trial even actually starts.

Installing apps on an iPhone or iPad has always been a challenge, right? And Apple certainly hasn't made it any easier.

Question: At what time of your team thinking process did you wondered why it's so challenging and why Apple didn't made it easier ?

Note that it's a purely rhetorical question. If you had had that thought, you would also had found by yourself everything I said above, and wouldn't had started your project.

Plus, we plan to handle the repackaging of all unaccessible iOS adult games for our store on our own.

With the prior agreement of the those games rights owners, right ?
An agreement that you'll get after having explicitly explained, to the said rights owner, that Apple will be in position to sue them for the simple fact that their game is now available on iOS, right ?

I mean, it would be illegal to port a game without an explicit agreement to do so, and it would be a pure dick move to do it, knowing that it would possibly lead to a lawsuit directed against those games rights owners. What would give to the said rights owners two reasons to sue you and, them, they would win the case...

But we do have some concerns, [...] We want to better understand how well we've managed to simplify this process.

I had hope for a second, until I discovered what was your concerns...

To keep this ship sailing and streamline how users install applications, we've had to introduce a subscription fee of $9,99/m to cover the expenses involved in maintaining this service, including the fees we pay to Apple for each connected device.

Am I dreaming, or is there an "and including the money we will give to the games rights owners", missing in what you wrote ?
I mean, you know that it would be totally illegal to not pay the games rights owners while earning money thanks to their creation, right ?

Our catalog is currently being updated with games like:
Naruto: Kunoichi Trainer, NU: Carnival, Femdom Stories, Kidnapped By The Mistress, Kidnapped Isekai Story, Lost at Birth, Academy34, The Loud House: Lost Panties, Ark ReCode, Cherry Tale, TenkafuMA: Diablo's Harem, Daraku Gear, Alliance Sages, Freya, King of Ecstasy, Cum & Gun, Lusty Odyssey, Havoc Front, Legend of Hypnotic World, Superhuman, Beauty and the Thug, Seven Mortal Sins X-TASY, HornyCraft, Bizzare Holy Land, Incest Story 2, Booty Hunter, My place is cursed, Ms. Denvers, University of Problems, The Promise We Made, League Of Dreams

Dinaki Isvrat V19XX WeirdWorld zegamez Shadik The Alley Guy DreamNow AdultSpice
Did you agreed for your game(s) to be ported on iOS and made available on iOS platforms, through a fee-based service that apparently don't intent to give you a share of the benefits they expect to make thanks to your games ?

Is it something you’d want to dive into?

No, thanks, I prefer my life to be drama free...

For more info, here are the links:
Game catalog:

You must be registered to see the links

Store landing page:

You must be registered to see the links

I searched, but was totally unable to find them, so, where are the mandatory legal mentions ?

And why the two persons praising your service on your front page have deleted their tweets ?
I mean, you wouldn't have faked tweets, using real persons for that, right ? This too would be totally illegal and they could sue you for that.




TL;DR:

I hope you have a good lawyer, with all the lawsuits you exposed yourself to, he'll be able to by the island he dreams about.


Edit:
Icarus Media I'm curious to have your thoughts regarding the Apple Vs DMA part. Can Apple select the third party store and still be DMA compliant ?

 

[Icarus Media]

Edit:
Icarus Media I'm curious to have your thoughts regarding the Apple Vs DMA part. Can Apple select the third party store and still be DMA compliant ?

Firstly, the 'repackaging' part soon pricked my ears up. I've seen dodgy sites do that to some games, rebranding them even with different cover art, name and even cropping out identifying trademarks in images.

As to Apple and the DMA, what do you mean by 'select' the third party store? A quick glance would suggest that while Apple cannot stop the creation of competing outlets it can under intellectual property laws sue for the use/creation of games that use their format, or have been reformatted to be of use in their format without permission.

 

[anne O'nymous]

As to Apple and the DMA, what do you mean by 'select' the third party store? A quick glance would suggest that while Apple cannot stop the creation of competing outlets it can under intellectual property laws sue for the use/creation of games that use their format, or have been reformatted to be of use in their format without permission.

The store being explicitly dedicated to content that Apple don't want and don't allow on their platform, to what extend forcing the said store to shut down stay compliant with the DMA.
The reason not being "we don't want another store than ours", but explicitly, "we don't want that kind of content", from my reading it's compliant. But in the same time it's still Apple closing the door to a third party store. So...


Edit: The time to take a second look at the web front of the store

Firstly, the 'repackaging' part soon pricked my ears up. I've seen dodgy sites do that to some games, rebranding them even with different cover art, name and even cropping out identifying trademarks in images.

They name the author in the store page, so I guess that they haven't removed any copyright information from the game. But in the same time they don't link to the author's main page, so they clearly really believed that they can earn money from games made by others without having to deal with royalties.

By the way, they've two ICSTOR games. With the money he got through the years, he can afford to spent some on a lawsuit to shut them down.

 

[Shadik]

Did you agreed for your game(s) to be ported on iOS and made available on iOS platforms, through a fee-based service that apparently don't intent to give you a share of the benefits they expect to make thanks to your games ?

In fact, I wouldn't mind if this service was free. No one has to pay to play my games.

10 bucks a month for a free game? This is crazy

Edit: lmao, my game's page on this site doesn't even have any links to my pages, I'm disappointed

 

[Tukann]

In fact, I wouldn't mind if this service was free. No one has to pay to play my games.

10 bucks a month for a free game? This is crazy

Edit: lmao, my game's page on this site doesn't even have any links to my pages, I'm disappointed

Wait, so they put your game up on their store without your permission?

 

[Shadik]

Wait, so they put your game up on their store without your permission?

Yeah, actually. It's not very good of them, since they are a paid application, and not some kind of pirate site or something.

A few days ago, one of them wrote to me on my discord server and offered to do it, but did not give me any additional information.

After this message, he never wrote anything else.

My game on their site

You must be registered to see the links

 

[AdultSpice]

@Dinaki @Isvrat @V19XX @WeirdWorld @zegamez @Shadik @The Alley Guy @DreamNow @AdultSpice
Did you agreed for your game(s) to be ported on iOS and made available on iOS platforms, through a fee-based service that apparently don't intent to give you a share of the benefits they expect to make thanks to your games ?

Yes, I did agree to let my game on their site for free they contacted me. I did some research about the site and found that they have been active for quite some time now, I think since 2016 or 2018, I don't remember. I heard about some comments that it's a good site, and some others complained about the site putting up a subscription. I don't know about Apple's laws. First of all, we don't know if they even got permission from Apple. Maybe they have permission, maybe they don't. Also, you can make an iOS port from Ren'Py, and there is a guide on how to do it, so I guess that Ren'Py has to take permission from Apple. We can all say what we want, but at the end of the day, we don't know if the site or Ren'Py made a deal with Apple or not. We don't know about Apple's laws. Ren'Py has the option of making an iOS port, so I guess they must also have Apple's permission. I don't know, but since I'm not making an iOS port of the game myself, I don't think how this will get me into trouble. If Apple is not okay with this, I will gladly ask the site to take down any iOS version of my game. But again, there are other people making a port of many games here; we are not responsible for every fan making a port of our games. I think that you are overthinking this.

I made an agreement that my game will be for free on their site because my game isn't finished. Also, I provide the game for free when my public tier on my SubscribeStar page is out. They don't make money entirely from my game alone; there are plenty of games on their site. Before adult games, they had regular games on their site. I believe that I could gain some exposure, and since the game is not finished, I wanted all the exposure and support that I could get.

I don't have any problems with the site. They explained with details the process before confirming letting them have my game on their site, and there are other creators that agreed, they introduced each other on their Discord, but the last comment of Shadik made me skeptical. I was approached by another of their staff, and she was very detailed about the process and very patient. She answered all of my questions, and before saying okay, she asked me again if what we agreed on was alright with me, if I was okay with our agreement. I don't know if the one who talked with Shadik was just lazy or something, but I'm sadly disappointed by this action because it's a paid site, and you are making money from someone that hasn't even agreed to anything.

Also, I recommended F95zone to the person I was talking to from their team because they were looking for more partners to work with. The fact that they are here and asking people about this, I think, shows that they want to make deals with developers and not screw them. But I could be wrong; time will tell, and we will have to see what their response will be about Shadik's game, which, for the record, I fully believe him and take his side. Not only having his game without his permission, but also not having any links to his site is unacceptable.

One last note before I stop. Something that I noticed last minute: they asked me for a link to my SubscribeStar page, but I don't see it on my game page on their page. I guess that it is there, but I can't find it? Either way, I have a link to my page in my game, so they can find me if they download the game.

 

[anne O'nymous]

I don't know about Apple's laws. First of all, we don't know if they even got permission from Apple. Maybe they have permission, maybe they don't.

Apple sued Epic Games because they attempted to bypass the Apple Store, but yeah, buildstore surely got Apple permission...

Also, you can make an iOS port from Ren'Py, and there is a guide on how to do it, so I guess that Ren'Py has to take permission from Apple. We can all say what we want, but at the end of the day, we don't know if the site or Ren'Py made a deal with Apple or not.

What the fuck is this none sense ?
You can make an iOS application with any C/C++ compiler, and obviously none of those compilers need a permission from Apple. And the same apply for Ren'Py. It's an engine, and nothing more than an engine, how it will be used, and on what platform, fall outside of its responsibility.
It's the guy who make the application who need an authorization, not the guy(s) who made the compiler or the engine.

We don't know about Apple's laws.

Yeah, no one ever heard about OnlyFan drama last year, nor ever heard about Apple stance regarding porn...

I don't know, but since I'm not making an iOS port of the game myself, I don't think how this will get me into trouble.

You are the one who make the game, and nowhere is it said that you aren't the one who made the port. So, if Apple discover that your game is available on iOS and decide to act, you'll be the one they'll sue.

But again, there are other people making a port of many games here; we are not responsible for every fan making a port of our games.

But none who make ports for games that goes against the terms of use of the OS they target...
You said it yourself, making a Ren'Py port of iOS is relatively easy. And being a pirate site, jailbreaking the device isn't something that will stop us. Yet, have you seen a single port for iOS here ?
There's tons of ports for Android, and none for iOS... I wonder why... /s

I made an agreement that my game will be for free on their site because my game isn't finished. Also, I provide the game for free when my public tier on my SubscribeStar page is out. They don't make money entirely from my game alone; there are plenty of games on their site.

It's... They claim to have 15K users, with a $19.99/month fee for regular application. They must have a really high traffic for their store to cost them more than those $300.000/month just because they added two handful of adult games.

The fact that they are here and asking people about this, I think, shows that they want to make deals with developers and not screw them.

The fact that they totally missed the Programming, Development & Art, sub forum, that is part of the Development section of the forum, tell a different story. Asking is there's players who would be interested, in the troubleshooting part of the forum, don't present them as wanting to start a cooperation with devs.

 

[AdultSpice]

You are the one who make the game, and nowhere is it said that you aren't the one who made the port. So, if Apple discover that your game is available on iOS and decide to act, you'll be the one they'll sue.

Brother, that's not how things work. First of all, let's take this from the beginning. Apple finds a site that features many games bypassing the Apple Store. A site that has 15k users when Apple has over 650M visitors worldwide. They see that a bunch of adult devs, let's say 40 devs, bypass Apple Store rules, and they don't research the devs. They don't talk to them, telling them to take down their games because they don't have their permission. They just start suing people. They sue over 40 devs, each one of them in a different country, just because their game happened to be on a site that had a paid subscription.

Okay, first of all, in reality, they don't even care because like this site, there are others like this one that bypass their agreements, and suing them will only make them lose money than gain money. Apple sued Epic Games because it is a big company. They have the rights to the fucking Fortnite. They even made a deal with Disney. They sue companies that actually made damage to their market and can gain something by taking them to court.

But for the sake of argument, let's say that they give a darn and want to stop these games. Still, they don't start suing whoever's name pops up in front of them. They do research. They see if the dev actually is making an iOS port and actually gaining money from the Apple port. Each party obviously doesn't want to go to court, so that's why they reach out and ask them to take the game down. You think that Apple wants to spend money hiring lawyers, trying to find which country you live in, and gather evidence to take you to court, which by the way, is time-consuming, and both parties spend money for no reason? Or avoid all of that and just talk directly to you and tell you to stop? And they don't just throw money out of the window for just one person; they will do this for 40 adult devs. Imagine the rest of the other games, again throwing money with absolutely no gain. When Apple sued Epic Games, I don't know what they did, but I'm guessing they made a bunch of cash from Apple, and that's a huge reason to take them to court.

Some of the devs on the site are giving the game for free, so what damage am I causing Apple exactly?

Yeah, no one ever heard about OnlyFan drama last year, nor ever heard about Apple stance regarding porn...

Yeah, we don't know. I don't use OnlyFans, and honestly, I don't give a fuck. I also didn't know a thing about Apple having a problem with other people making iOS ports, brother, before they reached out to me asking if I was okay letting my game on their site. I didn't even know what iOS was. I'm an Android user. I've never owned an Apple device. I honestly don't know anything about Apple and their Apple Store.

But none who make ports for games that goes against the terms of use of the OS they target...
You said it yourself, making a Ren'Py port of iOS is relatively easy. And being a pirate site, jailbreaking the device isn't something that will stop us. Yet, have you seen a single port for iOS here ?
There's tons of ports for Android, and none for iOS... I wonder why... /s

F95zone isn't the only pirate game forum on the internet. There are tons of forums that pirate games and make ports. So, am I supposed to be responsible for one guy who made an iOS version of my game for one pirate site and then spread it all around the internet?

Let's take Shadik's example. He didn't give any permission. Is he responsible for their actions? There will pop up another site like this and won't even ask for permission of our games. What happens then? Do we still get the blame?

The fact that they totally missed the Programming, Development & Art, sub forum, that is part of the Development section of the forum, tell a different story. Asking is there's players who would be interested, in the troubleshooting part of the forum, don't present them as wanting to start a cooperation with devs.

Yeah, so? They posted on a different sub-forum. Where is the problem in that? Maybe they thought that this sub-forum was better to ask. They are new members; they have had their account for only three days. You have been a member since 2017.

 

[annie888]

Yeah, actually. It's not very good of them, since they are a paid application, and not some kind of pirate site or something.

A few days ago, one of them wrote to me on my discord server and offered to do it, but did not give me any additional information.
View attachment 3604479
After this message, he never wrote anything else.

My game on their site

You must be registered to see the links

Hey, Shadik
Thanks for your concerns and for bringing my attention to your case!
That was actually my teammate who reached out to you. We followed up with you via DM right after. Please make sure to check once more.

Here's how we typically add apps to our store. Usually, we chat directly with developers, get them onboard, ask for their app files (for repackaging) and testing, and then get their games up in our store.
But there's another route we sometimes take, like with your app. We find free .ipa files (the iOS app files) of freely distributed games, upload the free version to our catalog, check it works, and then reach out to the creator right away to discuss partnership opportunities. If any developer isn't okay with us having published their game, we respect that 100%. It gets removed from our catalog immediately, no questions asked. The same goes for you.
We're all about transparency here! We've got no reason to hide anything.

Sorry about the hiccup with your links not being mentioned, and a huge thanks for flagging it. Turns out we missed adding a few links to some other developer pages, yours included. It's totally on us, and we’re genuinely sorry for the oversight. Right now, we’re on it, patching things up, and we’ll be sweeping through to make sure no one else got missed, all within a day. And we've just added your 'Boosty' (to the 'Developer' button).

And just to clear the air, we never charge for the games and make money off them. Our subscribers pay for the tech that lets them install apps smoothly on their iPhones and iPads + for the repackaging efforts we take to help devs transition to iOS. We're pretty upfront about all this.

Oh, and here's a screenshot showing a part of what we've sent you in a private message on May 2:

Thanks again, and I hope to continue chatting with you

 

[Tukann]

Hey, Shadik
Thanks for your concerns and for bringing my attention to your case!
That was actually my teammate who reached out to you. We followed up with you via DM right after. Please make sure to check once more.

Here's how we typically add apps to our store. Usually, we chat directly with developers, get them onboard, ask for their app files (for repackaging) and testing, and then get their games up in our store.
But there's another route we sometimes take, like with your app. We find free .ipa files (the iOS app files) of freely distributed games, upload the free version to our catalog, check it works, and then reach out to the creator right away to discuss partnership opportunities. If any developer isn't okay with us having published their game, we respect that 100%. It gets removed from our catalog immediately, no questions asked. The same goes for you.
We're all about transparency here! We've got no reason to hide anything.

Sorry about the hiccup with your links not being mentioned, and a huge thanks for flagging it. Turns out we missed adding a few links to some other developer pages, yours included. It's totally on us, and we’re genuinely sorry for the oversight. Right now, we’re on it, patching things up, and we’ll be sweeping through to make sure no one else got missed, all within a day. And we've just added your 'Boosty' (to the 'Developer' button).

And just to clear the air, we never charge for the games and make money off them. Our subscribers pay for the tech that lets them install apps smoothly on their iPhones and iPads + for the repackaging efforts we take to help devs transition to iOS. We're pretty upfront about all this.

Oh, and here's a screenshot showing a part of what we've sent you in a private message on May 2: View attachment 3608265

Thanks again, and I hope to continue chatting with you

This seems tone-deaf to me. You are putting the games up on your store, and you are charging a mandatory access fee to your store. It appears without the games, you have no service. No matter how you present it, it seems like you are charging for access to the games. And from your screenshot, you're clearly admitting to putting the game up on your store without checking with the dev first. Onyxdime do you have any thoughts on this?

 

[annie888]

Tukann, thanks for the questions!

how vulnerable is it to a takedown by Apple? What are the limitations?

We’ve been hard at work keeping our tech and service secure over the almost 10 years we've run our main Builds-io store. However, only two things can happen from Apple's side, and we're pretty open about that with our users.

Just to give you the rundown

• 'Ineligible' Status—Sometimes, Apple might revoke a certificate, causing a temporary hiccup where users can't install apps from alternative stores for 14-30 days. We pause subscriptions during this time and then reactivate everything once it's sorted. There are no other consequences or restrictions before, during, and after this process.

We've been quite successful in avoiding these blockades and now face such issues rarely, about 0-1 times a year.

• 'Processing' Status—This is only for new users before they gain full access to the service and can install apps. This initial setup typically takes 1-3 days and is a one-time process per device for the user's lifetime.

That's the only limitation we can face from Apple's side.

How big is your current userbase?

About our user base: Over the years, we’ve served hundreds of thousands in our main store, and many of them have been with us for a long time, continually renewing their subscriptions.
Our new adult store is still in its early days, we've just launched and started promoting it, so the user base there is still developing, and there are just a few of them.

 

[anne O'nymous]

But for the sake of argument, let's say that they give a darn and want to stop these games.

Baby, of course they give a damn and will want to stop those games if they discover that they are available on iOS.

They goes as far as

You must be registered to see the links

to an app developer as prof that their app wasn't conform to Apple thought regarding adult content. And it wasn't even an adult oriented app, just one that, among other functionality, permit to see Instagram content and therefore could potentially feature nudity.
It's been now ten years but their mind didn't changed since. At most they changed their way to notify about the none conformity, because they surely didn't loved to be on the news in that way.

You said that they sued Epic Games because they are big and Apple care about money. Yeah, that's true, they care about money, but they care even more about their image, to the point to have forbid OnlyFans to come to the Apple Store with its adult content. It's a site that make nine eight annual benefits, and do it through subscription, so Apple too would have made millions just by its fees on all financial transactions. Yet it was still a big no for them.


Your game, and all adult games featured on that store goes against

You must be registered to see the links

:

"1.1 Objectionable Content
Apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy. Examples of such content include:
[...]
1.1.4 Overtly sexual or pornographic material, defined as “explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.” This includes “hookup” apps and other apps that may include pornography or be used to facilitate prostitution, or human trafficking and exploitation."


As you can see by yourself, because Apple did a good job to have an understandable presentation, that rule conflict with the EU DMA. But it doesn't mean that you can just forget them if you live in the UE, no. The rule changes between the world wide rules and the EU rules "

You must be registered to see the links

"
emphasis is mine.

As for the alternate stores, them too have to follow rules, because they'll need to be authorized first ; want answer my question to our resident comedian. And, of course, like above, they can only operate for EU member countries, not world wide.
As for the developers, in order "to authorize an app marketplace to distribute your app, you’ll need to contact the marketplace developer to receive a security token required for alternative distribution" [same page than above]. But for this they'll firstly need to

You must be registered to see the links

.

And finally, "apps offered through Web Distribution must meet Notarization requirements to protect platform integrity, like all iOS apps, and can only be installed from a website domain that the developer has registered in App Store Connect" [still same page that the quote above]

Each party obviously doesn't want to go to court, [...]

Tell this to

You must be registered to see the links

. They were sued by Apple because they had an apple as logo... And while it's surely the most ridiculous of all Apple lawsuits, it's far to be the only ridiculous one they started.

You think that Apple wants to spend money hiring lawyers, trying to find which country you live in, and gather evidence to take you to court, which by the way, is time-consuming, and both parties spend money for no reason?

Wait, you think that companies like Apple hire lawyers ? They have deal with lawyers office(s), paying them millions annually for their services. For a company like Apple, a lawsuit isn't an expense, it's a return on investment.

And it wouldn't be for no reason, but to continue to protect their image. Exactly like they did in the links above, by example when they present the DMA as "

You must be registered to see the links

" [yeah, still same link that the previous quote].
Suing an adult game dev would be a positive message sent to iOS users: We had to comply with rules that compromise your security and can corrupts your children, but don't worry, we still stand there as a vigilant guardian.
And with the current US lawsuit, it's a needed message.

When Apple sued Epic Games, I don't know what they did, but I'm guessing they made a bunch of cash from Apple, and that's a huge reason to take them to court.

That's not how justice works at that level. You don't get millions, you just are authorized or denied a right to do something.

F95zone isn't the only pirate game forum on the internet. There are tons of forums that pirate games and make ports. So, am I supposed to be responsible for one guy who made an iOS version of my game for one pirate site and then spread it all around the internet?

Well, it's your copyright that is on those games, you know...

Let's take Shadik's example. He didn't give any permission. Is he responsible for their actions?

No, and strictly speaking he can sue them if he want. It's the difference with you, who explicitly authorized that port, and therefore engaged your legal responsibility.
It's not because it's a silly porn game that you make as a hobby in your free time, that Law don't apply. Ask

You must be registered to see the links

Do we still get the blame?

I didn't said that you'll get the blame, but that they'll sue you.

During the three last decades Apple lost most of its lawsuits, what never prevented them to starts new ones. They know perfectly how it works, people will hear about the lawsuit, but rarely hear about the verdict. Especially since the said verdict will generally come years later.
It's perfect for them. The few they'll lost in court will be compensated by what they'll earn by protecting their image in the eyes of their customers. And it's all they want. iOS users will sleep peacefully, convinced that Apple defend their interests, and they'll never learn that Apple lost the case.

Yeah, so? They posted on a different sub-forum. Where is the problem in that? Maybe they thought that this sub-forum was better to ask.

Yeah, baby, General Troubleshooting is clearly a better place to reach game developers than Programming, Development & Art, or the Development Recruitment & Services, section... It's so obvious...

 

[annie888]

Guys, really appreciate you diving into these topics.

Icarus Media

Firstly, the 'repackaging' part soon pricked my ears up. I've seen dodgy sites do that to some games, rebranding them even with different cover art, name and even cropping out identifying trademarks in images.

I get where you're coming from with the repackaging concerns if the statement was about us. This is totally not how we operate; it's not appropriate. Anytime we repackage the game on our side, it's done in full coordination with the developers, and the files come directly from them. Names, covers, you name it—we don't alter any of that without explicit consent. Everything is transparent and above board.

AdultSpice

Also, I recommended F95zone to the person I was talking to from their team because they were looking for more partners to work with. The fact that they are here and asking people about this, I think, shows that they want to make deals with developers and not screw them. But I could be wrong;

First off, a big thanks for tossing F95zone our way. That was actually me you were chatting with! And you're right about the mix-up on the subforum topic. I'm pretty fresh here and still finding my way around and aiming to post in the right spots, whether general discussions or developer-focused ones; I was actually targeting the general discussion among developers, and that's my first post so far. Transparency and reputation are key for us, so if there was anything we were uncertain about, we wouldn't post at all.

Something that I noticed last minute: they asked me for a link to my SubscribeStar page, but I don't see it on my game page on their page. I guess that it is there, but I can't find it?

I'm sorry for the confusion about the link mishap. As I already mentioned to Shadik, not all links were showing up under the "developer" button due to a glitch on our end. Good news—we've fixed it and added your SubscribeStar link. You can check it yourself. Huge thanks for pointing that out!

Cheers, and looking forward to more interaction with you.

 

[AdultSpice]

Baby, of course they give a damn and will want to stop those games if they discover that they are available on iOS.

They goes as far as

You must be registered to see the links

to an app developer as prof that their app wasn't conform to Apple thought regarding adult content. And it wasn't even an adult oriented app, just one that, among other functionality, permit to see Instagram content and therefore could potentially feature nudity.
It's been now ten years but their mind didn't changed since. At most they changed their way to notify about the none conformity, because they surely didn't loved to be on the news in that way.

You said that they sued Epic Games because they are big and Apple care about money. Yeah, that's true, they care about money, but they care even more about their image, to the point to have forbid OnlyFans to come to the Apple Store with its adult content. It's a site that make nine eight annual benefits, and do it through subscription, so Apple too would have made millions just by its fees on all financial transactions. Yet it was still a big no for them.


Your game, and all adult games featured on that store goes against

You must be registered to see the links

:

"1.1 Objectionable Content
Apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy. Examples of such content include:
[...]
1.1.4 Overtly sexual or pornographic material, defined as “explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.” This includes “hookup” apps and other apps that may include pornography or be used to facilitate prostitution, or human trafficking and exploitation."


As you can see by yourself, because Apple did a good job to have an understandable presentation, that rule conflict with the EU DMA. But it doesn't mean that you can just forget them if you live in the UE, no. The rule changes between the world wide rules and the EU rules "

You must be registered to see the links

"
emphasis is mine.

As for the alternate stores, them too have to follow rules, because they'll need to be authorized first ; want answer my question to our resident comedian. And, of course, like above, they can only operate for EU member countries, not world wide.
As for the developers, in order "to authorize an app marketplace to distribute your app, you’ll need to contact the marketplace developer to receive a security token required for alternative distribution" [same page than above]. But for this they'll firstly need to

You must be registered to see the links

.

And finally, "apps offered through Web Distribution must meet Notarization requirements to protect platform integrity, like all iOS apps, and can only be installed from a website domain that the developer has registered in App Store Connect" [still same page that the quote above]

I don't see where the problem is. They ask you to follow their guidelines and rules about their store, which they have the right to demand. But in this case, people made a port to play on a device that they pay for. It's like saying I bought a Nintendo, and Nintendo doesn't let me make a port of God of War and play it on my device.

Tell this to

You must be registered to see the links

. They were sued by Apple because they had an apple as logo... And while it's surely the most ridiculous of all Apple lawsuits, it's far to be the only ridiculous one they started.

This happened in 2012, and we don't have any conclusion to what happened. I guess both parties came to an agreement: one would take their logo down, and the other would not sue them. So I guess they didn't go to court. And from what I see, we both agree on this with your following response.

I didn't said that you'll get the blame, but that they'll sue you.

During the three last decades Apple lost most of its lawsuits, what never prevented them to starts new ones. They know perfectly how it works, people will hear about the lawsuit, but rarely hear about the verdict. Especially since the said verdict will generally come years later.
It's perfect for them. The few they'll lost in court will be compensated by what they'll earn by protecting their image in the eyes of their customers. And it's all they want. iOS users will sleep peacefully, convinced that Apple defend their interests, and they'll never learn that Apple lost the case.

Also, we don't even know if most of those cases saw the court or ended up having an agreement.

No, and strictly speaking he can sue them if he want. It's the difference with you, who explicitly authorized that port, and therefore engaged your legal responsibility.
It's not because it's a silly porn game that you make as a hobby in your free time, that Law don't apply. Ask

You must be registered to see the links

I gave permission to have it on their site for free. I don't get any money from this, and it's not on their Apple Store, so I don't see how I'm hurting Apple.

 

[Lerd0]

...oh this has potential......the thread i mean......
..reading the official linked on their site....twitter and reddit....was even funnier.....

 

[Alcahest]

I was actually targeting the general discussion among developers, and that's my first post so far.

Most dev discussions happen on the private dev forum and your site has been discussed there since December 2023. I've pointed them to this thread in case anyone wants to reach out.

 

[Shadik]

Hey, Shadik
Thanks for your concerns and for bringing my attention to your case!
That was actually my teammate who reached out to you. We followed up with you via DM right after. Please make sure to check once more.

Here's how we typically add apps to our store. Usually, we chat directly with developers, get them onboard, ask for their app files (for repackaging) and testing, and then get their games up in our store.
But there's another route we sometimes take, like with your app. We find free .ipa files (the iOS app files) of freely distributed games, upload the free version to our catalog, check it works, and then reach out to the creator right away to discuss partnership opportunities. If any developer isn't okay with us having published their game, we respect that 100%. It gets removed from our catalog immediately, no questions asked. The same goes for you.
We're all about transparency here! We've got no reason to hide anything.

Sorry about the hiccup with your links not being mentioned, and a huge thanks for flagging it. Turns out we missed adding a few links to some other developer pages, yours included. It's totally on us, and we’re genuinely sorry for the oversight. Right now, we’re on it, patching things up, and we’ll be sweeping through to make sure no one else got missed, all within a day. And we've just added your 'Boosty' (to the 'Developer' button).

And just to clear the air, we never charge for the games and make money off them. Our subscribers pay for the tech that lets them install apps smoothly on their iPhones and iPads + for the repackaging efforts we take to help devs transition to iOS. We're pretty upfront about all this.

Oh, and here's a screenshot showing a part of what we've sent you in a private message on May 2: View attachment 3608265

Thanks again, and I hope to continue chatting with you

Anyway, I wouldn't want to see my game on your site as long as people are paying money for it.