This seems very on point. I cannot shake the feeling that Apple's abuse comes across as much more morally decrepit because of the company's deluded self-perception as "the good guys".
I like Microsoft a lot these days, but Apple's policies have remained essentially unchanged for the past 13+ years, so I'm not sure where the new anger is supposed to be coming from. They cut their fees in half for smaller developers back in 2020, down to 15%. That's about as low as it gets for a full-service distribution channel. Even BMT Micro charges around 10%.
They're about to be forced to allow sideloading in the EU. These are all positive developments, willing or no.
The issue is they are charging a 27% fee on top of any third-party payments for any apps linking to an external payment gateway.
So technically they comply with the ruling(s) around the world but in a way that it makes zero sense for any app developer to change their payment model since they are paying 30% in payment fees anyway.
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By behaving in ways almost no one likes, from a dominant position, Apple is risking losing the hearts and minds of developers.
They're about to be forced to allow sideloading in the EU. These are all positive developments, willing or no.
So technically they comply with the ruling(s) around the world but in a way that it makes zero sense for any app developer to change their payment model since they are paying 30% in payment fees anyway.