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App Store Expanding to 20 New Countries [Updated]

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The App Store is expanding to 20 new countries in the near future, Apple informed developers this afternoon.
Thanks to the creativity and innovation of developers like you, the App Store has become much more than the world's safest marketplace. It's grown into a vibrant platform with great apps that influence culture and change lives, with over half a billion visitors each week. This wide-reaching platform has helped generate over $155 billion in developer earnings -- just from sales of apps and in-app purchases. Today, the App Store gives you the opportunity to connect with users in 155 countries or regions. We're pleased to announce that the App Store will expand even farther this year with upcoming support for 20 new countries, allowing you to increase your impact and grow your business in new markets.
Click to expand...
Apple says that developers who want their apps to appear in the new countries must accept the Program License Agreement on the Apple Developer Website and then choosing the "New Countries or Regions" checkbox in the Pricing and Availability section of the app information page.

Apple suggests developers complete these steps by April 10, 2020, to make sure apps are ready to be published as the App Store becomes ready in new locations.

The App Store is already available in 155 countries and regions, and Apple has not specified which countries are included in the expansion. A full list of countries that have access to the App Store can be found on Apple's website, though the new content has not been added yet.

Update: According to the updated developer agreement, the new countries include Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivorie, Gabon, Georgia, Iraq, Kosovo, Libya, Maldives, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nauru, Rwanda, Serbia, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Zambia.

Article Link: App Store Expanding to 20 New Countries [Updated]
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/03/23/app-store-expanding-to-20-new-countries/
Last edited:
Apparently they haven't yet updated the webpage yet because I don't see any new countries compared to this cached version from the beginning of the month.
 
I wonder when it's gunna reach saturation (App fatigue). I know I haven't purchased an app in years. I don't download free ones any more either unless it's an app to control a device I purchased (Bluetooth control)
 
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I also didn't realize there were still countries (outside of those the U.S. is prohibited from doing business in) that didn't have the app store. I guess that means that people with iPhones in those regions are stuck with the stock apps? Kinda takes away a lot of the convenience of a smartphone to begin with.
 
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barkomatic said:
I also didn't realize there were still countries (outside of those the U.S. is prohibited from doing business in) that didn't have the app store. I guess that means that people with iPhones in those regions are stuck with the stock apps? Kinda takes away a lot of the convenience of a smartphone to begin with.
Click to expand...
Often people in such countries can access stores from other countries.
 
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However, there is still no easy way to handle multiple country appstores - I get they want to maintain separation, but when app developers don't publish to the global store it can be really annoying. The most common example is banking apps; if I have an Australian bank account, but live in the USA, I need to login to the Australian store to get the AU company's app, then logout and login to the US store to get a US banking app; then switch accounts periodically to receive updates to whichever store I'm not "normally" logged into; even when the app is free. With more countries this will only balloon in awkwardness :(
 
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dmylrea said:
"over $155 billion in developer earnings " -- is that before or after Apple's 30% cut?
Click to expand...

After Apple's 30% cut.

I keep seeing more negativity against this ... yet the first 10yrs of iOS App Store not much of a complaint.
Let's see ...

1. Apple creates an incredible store front!
- by incredible ... compare that to the 1st & 2nd generation of smartphones:
> Psion into Nokia's S60 1st & 2nd edition, as well as UIQ and Ericssons R380 (1st gen smartphone)
> Microsoft Windows Pocket PC (based on WinCE) and Pocket PC Phone Edition (PE) more based on .Net
[Compaq iPad had the lions den of innovative models, yet Casio, HP, Toshiba, Samsung had this. many devices where 'BlackBerry fighters]
> PalmOS (prior to the Pre phone, yet after failing to deliver Cobalt and raping Sony for their great innovations so they dropped out and continued with SonyEricsson with UIQ.
> BlackBerry OS.
^ absolutely NONE of these had a store front by the manufacturer, maybe BlackBerry OS yet it was integrated with the carriers (initially Rogers Wireless in Canada and Verizon/AT&T in the USA).
> Danger OS ... The T-Mobile SideKick or (Hip-Top) ... you know the 'ghetto BlackBerry' ;) LMAO good times
* all of them tried to copy including Nokia's OVI
2. Developers pay $100 CAN/US to register their business name and apps. No need to register a DNS
3. Developers need a Mac with OSX/MacOS to submit applications.
once verified they're automatically pushed to supported devices.
4. Apple since it's second year has ALWAYS supported devices in the iOS for 4-6yrs (the last 3yrs it's been 4-5yrs)
the user base has steadily increased.
5. Developers do NOT pay nor need to pay a penny/pence for marketing or advertisement - just your screenshots and quick video.
6. Developers have the option to submit their app nationally or by continent or globally.
7. Apple Pay's developers via a cheque or online banking every 30days (I presume) ... but you get your money.
8. There are NO RETURNS ... so shady buyers don't come up with tricks to screw you over.
^ this is HUGE ... anyone that remembers Nokia's S60 2nd Edition smartphone push into mobile gaming knows it was an initial highlight. T-Mobile USA (I know as I used to troubleshoot APN gateway access for users of this platform) offered unlimited data for $6.99 EDGE data speeds for online gaming, MMS, and browsing - tethering came after. It was a LOT cheaper than the SideKick II's data rate. Nokia's other devices the 6600/6620/6630 also could run those games - pirated with a little fiddling via LonelyCatGames' file manager to inject needed files and voila ... 300 games were suddenly free! many gaming houses were super upset and jumped shipped.
10. Apple continues to upgrade the iPhone every year, added another device to the platform adding another review stream for developers. New features that enable apps, games, and keep users addicted and coming back.
11. Apple spends 100's of million of dollars globally for marketing both the platform and devices and if your app(s)/game(s) are THAT good they market them to directly to the end users !!

So you really think 30% is too much to loose out on?
Why not try looking at how developers had to market their smartphone apps in the past:
esato.com everythingsymbian.com Symbian-Freak.com (finally dead sight) howardforums.com and so many others they're all pretty much empty with just lingering news and fanatics left.

I'm curious developers write off the 30% as an expense before taxes as a cost of doing business.

CandyCrush developer made a hit and he's out of the poor life pretty much set with his family, got too overwhelmed and remained humble ... a good soul. TweetBot (I believe) developer, a member on these forums is driving around having fund from a BMW 3 series 2yrs ago to a Honda S2000 and enjoying his life! Smule developer is enjoying the high-life .. auto invites to Apple events and still developing.

I really doubt any of those I've mentioned really loathe Apple taking their rightful 30% payment before their mega dollars!

Bonus: Apple has NOT increased their cut since the launch of the AppStore ... really nice. And they've maintained an ecosystem and presence of apps that users are willing to pay for! I'd love to see the percentages of paid vs fee or freemium apps between the PlayStore and App Store.
 
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  1. Afghanistan
  2. Gabon
  3. Cote d’Ivoire
  4. Georgia
  5. Maldives
  6. Serbia
  7. Bosnia and Herzegovina
  8. Cameroon
  9. Iraq
  10. Kosovo
  11. Libya
  12. Montenegro
  13. Morocco
  14. Mozambique
  15. Myanmar
  16. Nauru
  17. Rwanda
  18. Tonga
  19. Zambia
  20. Vanuatu
 
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I’d love to see Apple addressing issue with language settings tied closely to selected App Store country.

For example, right now if you live in Germany and App Store country set to it, but you are French or Russian (and your phone language is set to French or Russian) - half of your App Store, Apple Music and some other apps will be displayed in German.

This happens even if German is completely missing in Language and Region list on iOS.

The only thing that works is if everything is set to English - than English is what you get everywhere.

It’s really is a sad situation for those who work in other countries and use family sharing, since all Apple IDs must be from the same country. Thus, your children or wife who might not be fluent in German for example will stuck with half of native apps displayed in unknown language.

I am so happy that iOS 13 allowed to choose language settings individually for every app on the phone, and now I hope that Apple addresses this in the next release.
 
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Wow quite sad that these countries are just now getting the App Store. For the arhat Apple touts about empowerment, these are some of the poorest places on earth and they’re just getting something that Apple rolled out 10+ years ago.
 
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