Ask HN: Apple Developer Account Blocked without reason – can somebody help?
Does anybody else have the same problem?
I have been working on an App for months now but now I wanted to submit it to the App store, but I cannot create Apple Developer Account (Enrollment) because my Account is somehow blocked. My Issue at Apple (Case Number: 101043480563) has been open since March 11th, but no progress has been made. I was inquiring almost weekly, but the very friendly senior Advisor is also waiting for an internal team to give her feedback. No progress for almost 2 months.
Been working hard to get this App online. All the infrastructure (backend etc.) is in place, but now it is all falling apart because of this.
My App will greatly improve knowledge sharing in an entertaining way and will be really helpful in the current times.
If anybody with contacts to Apple can help, it would be really appreciated.
20 comments
[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 58.3 ms ] thread"I'm having trouble creating an Apple Developer account, has anyone had similar experiences?"
"Have you considered an Android version?"
When someone asks how to do X, telling them to do Y is almost never the right answer.
Microsoft, at its peak, held a worldwide monopoly of over 90% of all desktop computers (I believe it was in the mid 90s).
How is Apple's (not a) monopoly worse than Microsoft?
If they're not already a monopoly in the US, then they might as well be since they have the same market control as a monopoly player. Also, a strict majority market share is not required for a company to be considered a monopoly. It's up to the courts to decide. [1] [2] [3]
[1] https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a...
> Courts do not require a literal monopoly before applying rules for single firm conduct; that term is used as shorthand for a firm with significant and durable market power — that is, the long term ability to raise price or exclude competitors.
[2] https://www.justice.gov/atr/competition-and-monopoly-single-...
> In determining whether a competitor possesses monopoly power in a relevant market, courts typically begin by looking at the firm's market share.(18) Although the courts "have not yet identified a precise level at which monopoly power will be inferred," they have demanded a dominant market share.
[3] https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/14/18618127/apple-pepper-sup...
> The plaintiffs, meanwhile, will argue that these alternatives don’t matter. “The fact that they have a [less than] 50 percent market share of smartphones doesn’t mean they don’t have a 100 percent share of the distribution of iPhone apps — which they absolutely do,” says Rifkin.
Yes, that's true, but it's not a particularly meaningful or insightful statement. That's defining the market in terms of the answer you want. Any company has a 100% market share if you define the market as "things that only that company can do".
"The fact that they have a [less than] 50 percent market share of operating systems doesn't mean [Microsoft doesn't] have a 100 percent share of Windows -- which they absolutely do", says Captain Obvious.
The question is, has there been a detrimental effect for customers?
Practically, I don't think the answer is as clear-cut as Rifkin wants it to be, because (at least to me), the drawbacks of a single-vendor app store (of which there are a significant quantity) have to be weighed against the benefits of a single-vendor app store (of which there are a significant quantity).
I'd say the great majority of those benefits are going to Apple.
There's nothing that Apple does in their app store that a third party app store owner couldn't do. Anyone can curate apps.
As a customer of the Apple app store, I've absolutely experienced the detrimental effects of Apple's behavior. For one thing, I can't build software for my own device because Apple is too concerned about losing control. There are also whole categories of software that I simply cannot have because Apple won't let them be sold in their store.
They already lost the anti-trust case to decide if they can be sued again by customers. I hope they lose the next one too.
Also, I'm a bit skeptical how you aren't enrolled already. Apple doesn't make it easy to develop and run apps on hardware until you're enrolled. They require certs + provisions tied to the registered AppID to run any apps on hardware. But it's also been awhile since I've developed without a developer enrolled AppleID.
Have you had a developer account before that you might have forgotten about and that might use the same Apple ID? Can you create a new ID? (I don’t remember if you need an Apple ID.)
Have you moved to another country? For example, is the Apple ID registered in country A and you’re trying to enroll in country B? Can you create a new ID in country B?
Does your payment method work? Last September, I noticed that the online Apple Store in Germany follows the new process in the EU when paying with credit cards online. That is, you have to enable your card to allow online payments. Other businesses still use the old method where you only need the three-digit number on the back of the card. Check with your bank or credit card company and enable online payments. It is not enabled by default. Call the phone number printed on the card and they walk you through the process.
Do you have to supply tax information so that proceeds from the sale of your app can be reported correctly? Are you missing documents, tax IDs, W8-BEN (tax treaty benefits, needed for US tax purposes when you’re a citizen of another country), or similar documents? I haven’t done this myself. I don’t know if you need all this. Just throwing it out there.