Tinder becomes the top-grossing, non-game app in Q1 2019, ending Netflix's reign
For the first time in years, Netflix is no longer the top grossing, non-game mobile app. Instead, that title now goes to dating app Tinder. The change in position is not surprising, given Netflix's decision in December to stop paying the so-called "Apple tax." That is, it no longer allows new users to sign up and subscribe to its service through its iOS application.
The change was said to cost Apple hundreds of millions in lost revenue per year, given that Netflix's app had been the world's top-earning, non-game app since Q4 2016. Now, instead of giving up its 15 to 30 percent cut of subscription revenue, new users have to sign up through Netflix's website before they can use the app on mobile devices, including both iOS and Android. (Netflix had dropped in-app subscriptions on Android earlier.)
[...] In Q1 2019, Sensor Tower estimates Netflix pulled in $216.3 million globally, across both the Apple App Store and Google Play, down 15 percent quarter-over-quarter from $255.7 million in Q4 2018.
Meanwhile, Tinder's revenue has climbed. In the first quarter, it saw revenue grow by 42 percent year-over-year, to reach $260.7 million, up from $183 million in Q1 2018. That put it at the top, according to both Sensor Tower and App Annie's estimates.
Netflix and chill Tinder and bang.
Previously: Netflix is the Latest Company to Try Bypassing Apple's App Store
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Submitted via IRC for SoyCow4408
Netflix is joining the likes of Epic Games Inc. and Spotify Technology SA in its latest move: testing a way for users to register and pay for the streaming service while bypassing Apple Inc.'s app store and hefty commission fees.
The streaming giant is the latest company to look into bypassing Apple's app store and Alphabet Inc.'s Google Play. Both Apple and Google take a 30% commission on all apps and in-app purchases, and the commission drops to 15% after the first year.
[...] Companies have long complained about the heavy cut Apple and Google take in return for visibility on their platforms. Spotify does not allow new subscribers to sign up via Apple's app store, though the app itself can still be downloaded there. The company has been especially vocal about the fees over the years, publicly speaking out and approaching U.S. and European regulators about the issue.
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Google has just publicly disclosed that it discovered an extremely serious vulnerability in Epic's first Fortnite installer for Android that allowed any app on your phone to download and install anything in the background.
Also at TechCrunch and Forbes.
See also: Google is irresponsible claims Fortnite's chief in bug row
Previously: Fortnite's Android Version Bypasses Google Play to Avoid 30% "Store Tax"
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @12:36PM (11 children)
I don't know much about Tinder, but this:
> ... that title now goes to dating app Tinder.
might be better worded as:
... that title now goes to hook-up app Tinder.
??
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Snow on Friday April 12 2019, @02:38PM
As someone who has spent a bit of time on Tinder, it's not the hook-up app that it used to be known for. Do hookups happen on the app? Sure, but the mainstream-ization of it means that there a plenty of people looking for an actual relationship on the app.
It's honestly pretty sad to see Tinder turn into a pay-to-win game. The quality of dating apps has really been slipping over the last 5 years I've been using them. OKCupid used to be really good, especially for people like me who are looking for different styles of relationships. I've witnessed first hand as OKC has turned from a traditional dating app with quality profiles to a Tinderized swipe app.
In modern dating, your pictures you have in your profile mean everything. If you want success, make sure you have some really good Instagram quality photos -- something most men are not good at.
On the other hand, if you do spend some time and/or money on good photos, you can stand out from the crowd (something that I will defiantly be doing if/when I have to dive back into the apps).
(Score: 3, Informative) by ikanreed on Friday April 12 2019, @02:40PM (8 children)
Any other observations from 2015 to share?
In whatever time since you last left your home, tinder has gone from primarily a hook up app that works to primarily a dating app that's terrible for finding long-term matches.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday April 12 2019, @02:49PM (1 child)
Yeah, they're pretty much chasing the market ... that they pretty much created (or at least enhanced) and most everyone else tries to follow (without getting sued for copyright / etc. infringement).
(Score: 5, Interesting) by ikanreed on Friday April 12 2019, @02:54PM
Nah, they own most of their competitors: PoF, OKC, and Match.
My conspiracy theory for why they're all becoming the same is that the tinder approach keeps people single(and therefor customers) longer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @03:20PM (4 children)
OP here,
> In whatever time since you last left your home,...
Let's see, I might have left home before you were born(?) -- late 1970s, played the field off and on (before dating "apps") through various friend/work/hobby contacts and have been in a stable relationship for ~20 years now.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Friday April 12 2019, @03:30PM (3 children)
Yeah, okay, so what you're saying is you're totally uninformed about the thing you were talking authoritatively about? Going so far as to take a tone of correcting someone else, while being fairly concretely wrong?
It's telling that you're more offended at the idea of being called a shut in than the actual problem with your post.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @04:38PM (2 children)
Well the lack of knowledge was admitted and even threw on some question marks so didn't come off as a know-it-all blowhard to me. You came off as rather pissy though with the shut-in comment ;)
(Score: 3, Informative) by ikanreed on Friday April 12 2019, @04:44PM (1 child)
Fair enough. It was a bit over the top.
(Score: 3, Funny) by isostatic on Friday April 12 2019, @05:35PM
This is now how a conversation on the internet is supposed to go, please escalate appropriately in future.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday April 12 2019, @05:38PM
Well shit, there goes plan B. Guess I'll just stay married then...
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday April 12 2019, @09:13PM
But you can't argue that for many people, especially straight women, Tinder is the app which most deserves the title Top-Grossing (out).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @01:16PM
Back in the 1980s, no one would have believed you if said that in the future, software would be based around the behaviors of teenage girls.
Using computers to socialize? Psh... straighten your tie and finish your business graphing application.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Friday April 12 2019, @01:18PM (1 child)
Isn't that a good thing? At least now they are meeting new people instead of just watching "celebrities" doing it on [viewing-device-of-their-choice].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @01:53PM
Game of Dethrones?
(Score: 2) by Kilo110 on Friday April 12 2019, @01:55PM (2 children)
The article says this as well. But Netflix no longer accepts payments through the app. All transactions are done via the site. So of course it would no longer be top grossing?
I don't see how this is newsworthy at all.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Friday April 12 2019, @01:58PM (1 child)
If people don't want to go through a web site to subscribe/pay then that really says more about the state of "modern" web sites.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Friday April 12 2019, @05:36PM
Actually, I think it's more about the pressure being exerted on folks to use their "smart" phones for everything. This pressure is increased by the poor coverage, lack of competition and abusive ToS that are ubiquitous for wireline ISPs in the US.
I can't (and don't pretend to do so) speak for anyone else, but the usability and quality of user experience is generally *much* lower with phone-based apps than with apps/web access through general-purpose computing devices.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr