An easy way to open up a platform to 3P integrations: an app store.

· Bits and Bobs 5/5/25
  • An easy way to open up a platform to 3P integrations: an app store.
    • The app store is the only point of distribution.
    • Items listed in the app store go through some level of review by the platform owner.
      • The items can also be pulled for bad behavior later.
    • This helps significantly reduce risk in the platform–you can assume some baseline level of good behavior from apps.
      • You can also cap the downside; if an app is badly behaved it can be removed from the system before doing too much damage.
      • Contrast that with the web platform, which must assume that all web content is actively malicious.
    • However, this obvious way to start locks the platform into a path that has a much lower ceiling.
    • The classic logarithmic-value / exponential-cost curve.
      • Each incremental app to approve takes some effort to verify; at some point the value of the incremental app in the ecosystem is lower than the effort to approve.
    • The problem gets especially bad if the platform starts off only approving a small number of featured apps.
      • This sets users' expectations for how trusted the apps are, which then becomes a bar that is dangerous to lower in the future.
      • In addition, new features will be added to the platform that assume a given level of trust in the integrations, making it harder to lower later.
    • The app store model puts the platform owner in the position of gatekeeper.
      • That's a power that will tend to be abused as the platform owner gets more powerful.
      • Power corrupts.