Yes, I did.
The major point of contention born from pure conjecture was that Apple would also charge a large commission in the EU, which it won't.
Here's hoping that this will spark some competitive atmosphere.
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iOS 17.4 Introduces Alternative App Marketplaces With No Commission in EU
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The major point of contention born from pure conjecture was that Apple would also charge a large commission in the EU, which it won't.
Here's hoping that this will spark some competitive atmosphere.
Some steps in the right direction, but the fact that they are charging € 0.5 from the first install for third party installs without even exempting the first million, like they do for apps on those app stores, suggests to me that they want to make it as financially impossible as they can to actually start and operate such a store.
In reality this will probably price anyone but the very biggest players out of the market, and they will only do it if they can make up for that through a lot of tracking and advertising.
Alternative app stores for things Apple doesn't allow, such as emulators or other open source stuff, will likely still have nowhere to go.
I assume the Commission will now review the proposals and we'll see what they have to say. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't the end of it.
In reality this will probably price anyone but the very biggest players out of the market, and they will only do it if they can make up for that through a lot of tracking and advertising.
Alternative app stores for things Apple doesn't allow, such as emulators or other open source stuff, will likely still have nowhere to go.
I assume the Commission will now review the proposals and we'll see what they have to say. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't the end of it.
Allow for competition in that product sector. If there were no patent laws at all (which I don't want) there would be no monopolies on types of products because the reason monopolies exist are because those companies have the exclusive government license to make that type of product.
There aren't (m)any that believe that. However, there are quite a few that believe that Apple should not profit off their platform in an unchecked, anticompetitive (tax-like) way.
"Developers who meet both of the following criteria will not pay a Core Technology Fee, even if they surpass the first annual install threshold:
- Registered with the Apple Developer Program as a nonprofit organization, accredited educational institution, or government entity
- Only distribute free apps on the App Store without the use of In-App Purchase
- Do not otherwise sell digital goods and services"
👉 If if's non-profit, you just need an appropriate structure (foundation?) to qualify, I believe.
And what’s to stop the bigger companies from just buying their competitors?
Market theology is just that, theology.
Thanks for the info!
I was referring to the third party App Stores, tho. Hopefully this will apply to them as well.
That 17% cut isn't coming from you, it's from the developer. If you think developers are going to pass on those savings to consumers, you are very naive, and/or probably have been holed up in a cave the last 3-4 years.
And lets please not act like these developers are poor. Epic games is raking in millions.
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It will take me a few days to properly digest the ramifications of the changes, but here are my initial thoughts.
I was dead wrong about how I thought Apple would change the App Store rules in keeping with the DMA. Initially, I was sure that Apple would find a way to block third party app stores while allowing standalone apps; seems like they went with the opposite.
I believed Apple would continue to find a way to charge developers 27%, even for side loaded apps, and a flat fee is a genuine surprise to me. I am still not sure what to make of the core technology fee (though Tim Sweeney losing his cool is always a good indicator), and whether it will actually end up costing developers more. First impressions is that it is intended to discourage small developers (not many will be able to put up $1 million up front), distributors of free apps like Facebook or amazon (why pay extra?) and maybe even freemium apps with no immediate source of revenue (that's like everything else?!?).
In addition, we can be on the lookout for reports of any bad incidents involving side loaded apps (and I suspect Apple PR may be fairly proactive in highlighting incidents that call the safety of these changes into question). It's may just be a matter of time because we get the first report of some malware installed via a spammy Facebook app draining someone's bank account (not that I wish this upon anybody) in the EU. We will see.
The tech underpinning all this also seems to be fairly impressive, and it almost seems like a shame to have all this just for one region. Classic Apple, I guess. Everything is over-engineered, even penalties and concessions. 😛
I was dead wrong about how I thought Apple would change the App Store rules in keeping with the DMA. Initially, I was sure that Apple would find a way to block third party app stores while allowing standalone apps; seems like they went with the opposite.
I believed Apple would continue to find a way to charge developers 27%, even for side loaded apps, and a flat fee is a genuine surprise to me. I am still not sure what to make of the core technology fee (though Tim Sweeney losing his cool is always a good indicator), and whether it will actually end up costing developers more. First impressions is that it is intended to discourage small developers (not many will be able to put up $1 million up front), distributors of free apps like Facebook or amazon (why pay extra?) and maybe even freemium apps with no immediate source of revenue (that's like everything else?!?).
In addition, we can be on the lookout for reports of any bad incidents involving side loaded apps (and I suspect Apple PR may be fairly proactive in highlighting incidents that call the safety of these changes into question). It's may just be a matter of time because we get the first report of some malware installed via a spammy Facebook app draining someone's bank account (not that I wish this upon anybody) in the EU. We will see.
The tech underpinning all this also seems to be fairly impressive, and it almost seems like a shame to have all this just for one region. Classic Apple, I guess. Everything is over-engineered, even penalties and concessions. 😛
I'm sure they met with EU regulators and went over their approach before announcing it. And there is three options, status quo, new terms stay in the app store, or new terms use third party store.Some more 'feedback'
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Has anyone reviewed the Alternative Terms addendum for EU apps?
https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/download/alternate_eu_terms_addendum.pdf
It is so complicated that for me it's not clear if it is an improvement on the standard App Store Terms with 30%/15% provision for EU subscription apps. It sounds like if you agree to this, you will be responsible to register and pay taxes in all countries contrary to reverse charge mechanism which applies in standard terms. In standard terms Apple pays all taxes for developers.
https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/download/alternate_eu_terms_addendum.pdf
It is so complicated that for me it's not clear if it is an improvement on the standard App Store Terms with 30%/15% provision for EU subscription apps. It sounds like if you agree to this, you will be responsible to register and pay taxes in all countries contrary to reverse charge mechanism which applies in standard terms. In standard terms Apple pays all taxes for developers.
This needs to go global and how does this announcement compare to that WSJ leak from yesterday?
I was wondering who exactly would benefit under the new terms. Apple seems to be trying to nudge developers to stick with the current App Store and existing App Store rules, so who exactly are these new rules for? Porn? Casino apps?
I was mostly interested in sideloading any app without any terms whatsoever. That's the freedom I was hoping EU was also looking for. If not, then this is a failure.
I would imagine if you derive a majority of your revenue from purchases by a large number of your users, then the new terms would probably be very beneficial. If you average $30/user/year then the old terms would mean fees to Apple of €9/user/year. Under the new terms it would be €6.5/user/year.
Free apps are exempt from fees
Update on apps distributed in the European Union - Support - Apple Developer
Only on the official App Store, right?Free apps are exempt from fees
Update on apps distributed in the European Union - Support - Apple Developer
developer.apple.com
Or does this apply to third party App Stores as well?
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iPhones are a type of mobile phone. Apple controling the iPhone is not a monopoly. A monopoly would be Apple having complete control over the entire cell phone market. There is still competition in that market from Samsung, Nothing, and smaller companies like Light with the Light Phone.
I mean, the big part of it is how their iPhones get faster and faster with each generation (although it ends up needing that extra speed to keep things running smoothly. Nm when you do a major update to iOS)
Section 3.6 Taxes is part of the Alternative App Store terms. If the downloads and transactions are not happening on Apple App Store and payment processing is not being done by Apple, then the payment is not being collected by Apple. In such cases, of course it would be the responsibility of the alternative app store owner to register, collect, and remit taxes.
Had the same thought, all these press releases seemed ready to go. Really happy about these changes, especially game streaming: Hopefully this can make the iPhone a more competitive handheld. Opening up NFC is also huge imo.
Remember to open each one so you can get updates for all your apps installed from each different store. It'll be like managing my game library on a Windows PC.