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A contract that Apple can, and often does, unilaterally adjust and modify as they see fit. That's not a contract. It's coercion — because developers cannot pull out anymore once investments have been made into an iOS App.

Apple has turned hostile towards developers and as a result, hostile towards consumers. I want choice. I want freedom. I want to decide what I can put on my phone. Not Apple.
You say "often" - can you give some examples? The only changes the general public - that would be me - is aware of were actually in favor of developers: the change from 30% to 15% after 1 year of a subscription.
 
Apple has turned hostile towards developers and as a result, hostile towards consumers. I want choice. I want freedom. I want to decide what I can put on my phone. Not Apple.
You made your decision to give up your choice when you chose to use an Apple product.

It’s like walking into a Japanese restaurant and complaining that they don’t serve french cuisine. You want what Apple can’t and won’t give.

Apple’s not the problem.
 
Apple is anti consumer. They allow anticompetitive practices by letting Amazon to use their own payment processing but do not allow Epic to do so. This just means that customers have to pay higher prices for apps and developers have less resources to create better experiences.
Epic is anti consumer as well. They pay millions to have games exclusively released on their own PC gaming service, leading to higher prices for customers.

Disabling Epic access to Apple Dev Kit will hurt all developers making games and other apps on Apple products.
Nothing Apple's threating to do would make it impossible for Epic to develop and maintain the Unreal Engine for Apple products, just more difficult.

Epic is right, Apple has become rotten.
This is a kettle calling the pot black.
 
Apple needs to cut down their fees to about 5-15%.
30% is beyond all reason. It's especially bad for small devs and companies.
I really don't get this way of thinking. If a developer wants to earn 20 cents per IAP they simply need to charge 30 cents. That's it.

This might affect end customers, but it's not affecting developers.
 
Apple is anti developer. Disabling Epic access to Apple Dev Kit will hurt all developers making games and other apps on Apple products. The majority of all top triple A games on the App Store use Unreal Engine. I am a game developer and personally use Unreal Engine on my Mac (maybe only for another 10 days if Apple succeeds in banning Epic).
Epic did that to themselves (and dragged every developer on their platform down with them) the day they decided to break the App Store rules and go up against a foe that would neither forgive nor forget.

If you are upset (and you have every right to be), blame Epic, not Apple.
 
Apple cannot control the customer experience if multiple payment systems are involved. Have you looked around stores that carry other peoples products like Amazon and Walmart? Guess what you have to pay them directly and there is no way to get around this. Sure you can use your MC, Visa, or AMEX, but it is run through the hosting store because they are ultimately responsible for the transaction.
Apple isn’t controlling the customer experience now for non-digital goods nor apps that are exempted like Netflix and Spotify. The question I‘d ask is once you download an app to your device is it still considered part of Apple’s store? I get if you’re in the App Store and you tap the $9.99 button you will pay for that app using your Apple ID and credit card on file (Apple’s IAP). But once the app is downloaded and you launch it are you still considered to be in Apple’s store? You’re obviously not for non-digital goods. Apple doesn’t seem to be concerned about physical goods not using their in-app purchase system.
 
I think both of these companies are in the wrong. Epic shouldn’t be taking this approach, but Apple shouldn’t be claiming they “treat all developers equally” while giving preferential treatment to Amazon.

Make the criteria for a lower Apple tax transparent or stop lying and saying all developers get the same treatment.
This is the second time that I see Amazon mentioned as getting preferential treatment. How? AFAIK Apple differentiates between payments for physical goods and services and electronic ones. It allows for external payment mechanisms for the former, but not the latter. That's why you can buy stuff in the Amazon app, but not in their Kindle app.

One can debate whether 30% is 'fair' at this point in the iOS ecosystem's life, but I don't think Epic has a legal leg to stand on - they simply violated a contract. Some have made the argument that Apple frequently changes the contract with developers having no recourse to accept the new terms. If the changes are, indeed, more restrictive on developers, that might be a good avenue for Epic to pursue. But I'm not aware of any such changes - the only change I've heard about was to to the benefit of developers: the change from 30% to 15% Apple fee after one year of subscription.
 
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30% is what all the other platforms charge to use their service. Xbox, PS, Nintendo, Google... all of them.
Were they all charging that before the App Store existed in 2008? Or are some of them charging that because that’s what Apple decided to charge? Anyway since when is Apple known for doing what everyone else is doing?
 
Even if Apple is one day forced into reducing their commission they are not going to do it over this. They are in a position of strength right now.
 
Were they all charging that before the App Store existed in 2008? Or are some of them charging that because that’s what Apple decided to charge? Anyway since when is Apple known for doing what everyone else is doing?

Retail is 30% too. That number has been the standard for a very long time
 
Apple gives away Photos, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Garageband.

Does Epic give away free games from other studios?


Yes, they do actually from AAA studios and indie developers. I literally have over $1000 worth of free games I have accumulated from the Epic Game Store since they've started giving away free games each week.
 
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30% may be a fair cut but it's 30% at an unlimited amount. If a developer makes $1m from their app, Apple will have $300k. I doubt it costs Apple $300k to check, host and take payment for any app on the App Store. I suspect many developers make far more than this from their apps, and Apple's profits indicate that they do too.

I think it's likely that regulators (certainly in Europe) will force Apple to cut or cap their rates, or they will insist on allowing external payment options. It could be worse if they force Apple to open up their ecosystem to other App stores.
 
Nothing Apple's threating to do would make it impossible for Epic to develop and maintain the Unreal Engine for Apple products, just more difficult.

With developer certificate revoked, Epic cannot get their software "notarized" to be able to be run on later versions of macOS. This is regardless of its presence or absence in the Mac App Store.
 
The problem with Apple's weasel worded statement is assuming there is any relationship between their customers safety and interests and the problem they have with Epic recent actions.

Well, Epic in itself is another professional hypocrite so I will just grab more popcorn.
 
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