Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Working on Solution for EU Core Technology Fee Possibly Bankrupting Apps That Go Unexpectedly Viral

jarman92 said:
So you think Apple should just allow everyone to distribute their apps on the App Store for free?
Click to expand...
Everyone who has an app on the App Store pays Apple an annual develper fee which covers the cost of "all the tools, resources, and support you need to develop and distribute apps, including access to beta software, app services, testing tools, app analytics, and more."


AppleTO said:
No, it's not. Apple is not required to give a free all access pass to their platform. It costs money to develop a platform and SDKs.
Click to expand...
Which is covered by the annual developer fee.

What do you think Apple is referring to when they say the developer fee cover the cost of all tools and resouces?



I'd like to also point out how alternative app stores work. According to https://developer.apple.com/support/alternative-app-marketplace-in-the-eu/ it is the developer who pays for the infrastructure, not Apple.

iOS 17.4 SDK introduces new capabilities that let marketplace developers build and distribute marketplace iOS apps as part of an alternative app marketplace in the EU. These apps can install and support software on devices, access data across a catalog of apps, manage users’ purchases and subscriptions, and more. Marketplace apps must meet Notarization requirements, like all iOS apps, and can only be installed from the marketplace developer’s website.


If it's the developer who is paying for all the costs, then what is Apple charging the Core Tech Fee for?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
  • Angry
Reactions: gusmula, freedomlinux, JapanApple and 18 others
AppleTO said:
No, it's not. Apple is not required to give a free all access pass to their platform. It costs money to develop a platform and SDKs.
Click to expand...
Which is offset by the ridiculously high price of iPhones and iPads. Also developers pay $100 yearly membership do they not?

Any developer who is not charging anything for their app should be allowed to distribute for free.
 
  • Like
  • Angry
  • Haha
Reactions: NVD, Lequon Robinson, Oblivious.Robot and 12 others
AppleTO said:
The $99 is surely subsidized based on average income from app sales. Apple would probably start charging $999 or more otherwise.
Click to expand...
They are free to try charging $999, let’s see how many indie developers keep developing for iPhone and the other Apple’s platforms. Basically iOS would be compatible just with banking apps, YouTube, slot machine apps and little more.
 
  • Like
  • Angry
Reactions: NVD, Elgaard, 0bit and 9 others
TimFL1 said:
That developer fee is only $99 because they had the commission bringing in the real compensation for providing this rich ecosystem.


They could‘ve also gone the Microsoft route, pulling a Visual Studio per seat licensing system for enterprise but they chose to only use IAP monetization to cover their bases.
Click to expand...
Apple's developer fee has been $99 since long before the App Store existed.

Apple's compensation for its ecosystem is device sales and their highly lucrative profit margins; Apple always as been and remains a hardware vendor despite services making up an increasing share of its revenue. The iPhone/iPad would be nothing without its app ecosystem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gusmula, NVD, Oblivious.Robot and 11 others
User 6502 said:
You seem to fail to understand that this fee is applied to apps that are NOT on the App Store and to developers who chose to NOT use the App Store. So yeah, Apple should NOT charge them any fee, other than the developer fee of $99 per year they already pay and that is meant to cover the cost of using Xcode and the APIs.
Click to expand...

Oh my, so much going on here...first of all, I do understand that. Though I thought it blatantly obvious that, should Apple forego the Core Technology Fee for apps outside the App Store, literally every single large developer (and many, many small and mid-size ones) would leave the App Store so they wouldn't have to pay any fees; it would be a no-brainer. That would be the absolute worst-case scenario for both Apple and for iOS users.

Any developer choosing to list an app outside the App Store has already taken advantage of years of Apple's developer support and infrastructure—countless APIs, documentation, developer sessions, Xcode, etc. The $99 developer fee is self-evidently a de minimus fee that prevents spam and abuse—it has never been a fee for use of Apple's resources.

If it were such a fee, it would undoubtedly be much higher, thus boxing many small developers out of the program entirely. Unless it were based on the size of the developer, in which case we're pretty much right back to where we started.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
  • Love
Reactions: jdb8167, NVD, Lequon Robinson and 11 others
Couldn’t the kid in question just only release it on the App Store and not a third party store? The fee doesn’t apply to developers who use the regular App Store…

With that being said, not a bad response and I look forward to seeing how they adjust
 
  • Like
Reactions: jdb8167 and iGeneo
AlmightyKang said:
Well GBA4iOS isn't exactly a good starting point. Apple don't allow emulators as a rule, not because emulators are illegal as such but the ROMS, including the GBA ones, are illegal. So at no point would they be allowed to distribute them anyway so the only distribution market is outside of any legitimate app store, licensed or otherwise. Apple would not offer any signing or distribution even by proxy for this and they probably shouldn't.
Click to expand...
The DMA explicitly prohibits such policing based on app type, like not allowing emulators.
 
  • Like
  • Angry
Reactions: iOS Geek, gusmula, jdb8167 and 6 others
bradman83 said:
The fee applies to apps not distributed on the App Store though.

Apple is free to charge a hosting fee for the App Store so that all of the free apps that pay nothing but get tens of millions of downloads pay their fair share.

Apple should not be entitled to a cut from apps that users download from external app stores of websites, much as they are not entitled to a cut for similar apps downloaded on a Mac.
Click to expand...

So you'd be fine with Apple locking down its APIs, Xcode, developer sessions, notarization services, etc. behind a paywall?
 
  • Like
Reactions: iOS Geek, Halmahc, strongy and 1 other person
There should not be a CTF that is scaling w/ the number of users for Apps that are fully outside the Apple App Store

Their costs to provide tools and software to Developers outside their own App store don't increase with the user installs.

That's Apple trying to "have it all" still
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
  • Angry
Reactions: iOS Geek, freedomlinux, jdb8167 and 15 others
avkills said:
Yes if the developers are not charging a fee for the app.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree, and I think that's pretty much how it's going to end up working. Though worth noting that's already how it works under the original (pre-DMA) developer terms, and Apple is already waiving the CTF for nonprofits and various other developers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mescagnus
SteveJobsOfficial said:
No, because the current topic is discussing distributing outside of the App Store.
Click to expand...
I think I might agree that non-App store competing store fronts have to have some sort of fee associated; otherwise nobody is going to release things via Apple's App Store.

If you want something that deals with tech broken or hard to deal with; just let politicians decide how it should be regulated.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
  • Angry
Reactions: iOS Geek, jdb8167, rowlands and 2 others
nt5672 said:
For side loaded app Apple should just bow out. All of the reasons an App phones home to Apple are unnecessary. There is no reason Apple should change for it, and not reason for the App to do it. Well, except for greed.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping we get to the point where the EU basically tells them that

All the rest of this is them trying to charge for things they have no business getting a cut of

Make it just like the Mac in this way -- Devs distributing their own software aren't paying a "CTF" to Apple there, nor should they. It's ridiculous
 
  • Like
  • Angry
  • Disagree
Reactions: iOS Geek, retrocool, Oblivious.Robot and 15 others
bradman83 said:
The fee applies to apps not distributed on the App Store though.

Apple is free to charge a hosting fee for the App Store so that all of the free apps that pay nothing but get tens of millions of downloads pay their fair share.

Apple should not be entitled to a cut from apps that users download from external app stores of websites, much as they are not entitled to a cut for similar apps downloaded on a Mac.
Click to expand...
Because this isn’t about what it costs to host/distribute apps or provide an SDK and APIs. They talked about this at length on the past couple ATP podcasts as well as the Upgrade podcast. Apple firmly believes developers are successful because of Apple and therefore they need to share their success with Apple. Read the recent Apple press release about Spotify. Apple is basically taking credit for Spotify’s success and then complaining that Spotify pays them nothing. So long as this is what current Apple leadership believes they will do whatever they can legally get away with to get their share of a developers success. The only way this changes is if Phil and Eddy retire and new blood is running the App Store.

www.apple.com

The App Store, Spotify, and Europe’s thriving digital music market

Today, the European Commission announced a decision about the App Store and competition in the digital music market.
www.apple.com
 
  • Like
  • Angry
Reactions: pratikindia, rowlands, strongy and 2 others
JordanCautious said:
Couldn’t the kid in question just only release it on the App Store and not a third party store?
Click to expand...
No. Why? Because Apple does not allow emulators like this on their App Store.

That's one of the main points for those of us who support alternative app stores and sideloading... you don't need Apple's permission/approval since you'd be able to get whatever apps you want off the internet, just like we do on the Mac.
 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Angry
Reactions: gusmula, freedomlinux, NVD and 12 others
sw1tcher said:
Everyone who has an app on the App Store pays Apple an annual develper fee which covers the cost of "all the tools, resources, and support you need to develop and distribute apps, including access to beta software, app services, testing tools, app analytics, and more."
Click to expand...

Not sure where you're quoting from, but it is abundantly clear that the annual developer fee provides access to such resources but does not cover the cost to Apple of providing those resources. $99/year is a pittance and serves only to prevent spam and abuse of the system.

sw1tcher said:
If it's the developer who is paying for all the costs, then what is Apple charging the Core Tech Fee for?
Click to expand...

As already explained extensively, here and elsewhere, the CTF covers Apple's decade-plus of work on the iPhone/App Store, Xcode, APIs and SDKs, developer sessions, documentation, regulatory compliance, marketing...
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
  • Haha
Reactions: freedomlinux, jdb8167, lfaa and 8 others
jarman92 said:
So you'd be fine with Apple locking down its APIs, Xcode, developer sessions, notarization services, etc. behind a paywall?
Click to expand...
The DMA more or less prohibits this. No, they should make their money through device sales and sales of their own online services, like they already do, and like they do for the Mac. I’m sure they won’t starve.
 
  • Like
  • Angry
  • Love
Reactions: iOS Geek, NVD, strongy and 6 others
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back