[librish]

Then force them to unbundle those fees if they want to collect them. It just doesn't make any sense that some developers have to pay up to 30% of their iOS revenue while others (including huge corporations like Uber, Starbucks, Target etc) pay nothing.

[TillE]

It's 15% for any developer making under $1 million. Even if we think the SDKs should be free, you're not going to find a significantly better deal for payment (with Apple handling all sales taxes etc), auto updates, crash reporting, etc etc.

Smaller developers aren't being ripped off, not anymore. There's a philosophical argument that Apple shouldn't control your device, but that really has nothing to do with the 30% they charge larger companies.

[librish]

Wouldn't Stripe be significantly cheaper?

I'm making the opposite of a philosophical argument, I'm making a practical one. Apple is not going to take away the App Store, or make it too difficult for developers to upload apps, since that would be a real threat to their iPhone business.

Developers need Apple, but Apple needs developers too. Currently their market domination makes it an extremely hard collective action problem for developers. Not being on the App Store means losing out on the majority of your revenue, which makes it tough for enough developers to band together against Apple.

[kj99]

> Wouldn't Stripe be significantly cheaper?

Can we stop pretending the app store fee is just for payment processing?

[librish]

That is currently the only thing they're charging for. Like I said, let them unbundle if they want to. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually end up just taking a revenue hit to keep the ecosystem healthy, which would mean more money for developers.

[kj99]

What are you talking about? Where do they say that they are only charging for payment processing?

[librish]

Right now the only time they take a cut is when they do payment processing. Uber, for example, pays Apple nothing.

[turquoisevar]

> Then force them to unbundle those fees if they want to collect them.

No, thank you.

I’ve seen what that looks like on the video console side of things. Thousands of dollars for the right of publishing on the manufacturer’s platform (i.e., using their IP) and again thousands for each build that needs to be certified.

Hundreds for smaller indie game devs.

I’m happy with my 15% commission and the $99/year fee. Nice and cheap and I get my money’s worth out of it and then some. Best part, they do well (i.e., I only owe them) when I do well. No upfront cost that’s essentially a gamble. No fee per build.

The more is bundled into a commission tied to my revenue, the better.

[judge2020]

The rule has been that physical purchases don't need to use IAPs, since the service you're purchasing is not solely enabled by Apple's investment into the entire hardware/software/APIs stack that allows your users to buy gems in your game.