We're no longer comparing apples to "Apples".

I imagine that's why Apple charges developers $100/year to even get through the door. It's not costing Apple 30% more to distribute an app that invites a user to subscribe to something inside of it than it's costing them to distribute TikTok for free.

I realize it's not against Apple's terms to subscribe and pay outside of the app, and this is one of your main points. Getting the user to do this can be difficult when you can't even put a link to your subscription page or pricing in the app. You can only display a login screen. This is a barrier for monetizing some apps. What is really the difference from Apple's perspective between paying outside of the app and inside? I'm paying for the phone and the electricity to run the app. I should be able to subscribe inside of it.

Since Apple created the mobile device and controls the entire platform and distribution, it can't equally be compared to Best Buy unless Best Buy also controls everything we as consumers are able to purchase. There are an innumerable number of other retailers I can choose from if I don't like the way Best Buy does things. As soon as I can choose to use a different "app store" on my mobile device (Cydia doesn't count), Apple can do whatever they want and this problem goes away.

The iphone is just a personal computer that Apple has maintained tight control over since inception. I can't imagine if my desktop (or even laptop) could only download software from a single source. Can you imagine if the auto industry created vehicles that could only go to certain retail stores based on whether that retail store paid the auto industry a "fee"?

I also have "Apple Derangement Syndrome" (I'd gladly switch to Android if iMessage were cross platform). I believe that my positive feelings toward this ruling are based on more than just that.

"Best Buy" in this analogy IS the App Store, so this would be more like Apple letting you post competing pricing within the app listing, or within search results. I agree this would be nonsense and shouldn't be regulated by the government.

But, should Best Buy be able to restrict vendors from putting a flyer INSIDE their packaging (that the customer can't see without opening the box)? That's what Apple is doing here. Downloading an app = walking out of best buy with a product. If I buy a security camera system and the vendor offers a cloud-based monitoring service for a monthly fee, Best Buy shouldn't and doesn't take a cut of that. Apple shouldn't either. I've had an app rejected (which I appealed multiple times) with this exact same business model just because I don't want to give Apple 30% of the monthly cost while spending more time/money integrating their payment system into my billing processes. It's nonsense.

Apple should be allowed to regulate and prevent malicious Apps just like Best Buy should be able to prevent vendors from selling malicious products, but that's about as far as it should go. I should be able to ask for payment for something within my app without 30% of it going to Apple. I should be able to buy books IN my kindle app without Apple requiring a cut of that.