• LWD@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    This is bizarre. If you are a developer, what right does Apple have to seeing your finances for all purchases made in the app that they sold on their store?.

    This sounds like a lose-lose for developers. Either you submit to Apple’s walled garden padded cell of an ecosystem and give them money, or you have to find a different payment system and give Apple a cut anyway, which might end up costing you even more in the long run.

    This seems even more anti-competitive than before!

    • kirklennon@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      If you are a developer, what right does Apple have to seeing your finances for all purchases made in the app that they sold on their store?

      It’s a commission for sales that came from the app, meaning from Apple’s platform, where they have roughly one billion above-average income users with a reputation for buying apps and subscriptions.

        • kirklennon@kbin.social
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          10 months ago

          I won’t shed any tears for Amazon etc having to give Apple a huge chunk of cash

          Amazon doesn’t have to give Apple a huge chunk of cash though. Apps don’t pay anything to Apple for real-world stuff being sold. Amazon pays nothing for the tens of billions of dollars purchased every year from iPhones. The only thing they pay Apple for is if someone uses the Prime Video app to buy or rent something or subscribe to Prime Video, but who does not already have an Amazon account (with saved card) that they’re signed into. We’re probably talking a number measured in the thousands of dollars. Uber, for example, pays Apple nothing other than their annual developer account fee (or fees, assuming they have multiple accounts).

          this sounds like a way to frustrate small developers who don’t have a whole team to devote to their finances.

          Nobody is going to actually use this program so there’s no real world extra accounting cost. Previously Apple charged 30% for a combined payment handling and commission. A court determined they had to let developers handle their own payments so Apple complied and said the commission is 27%. It’s invariably cheaper to just stick with Apple’s 30%.

          Everyone always wants more money. Developers would love to pay less; Apple would love to make more. The 30% max fee (in practice less for many developers) has been pretty successful for everyone involved. I think people can quibble over the “right” number, but I don’t think it’s wrong that there’s a sales commission for access to a profitable platform.

      • MonkderZweite@feddit.ch
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        10 months ago

        It’s a commission for sales that came from the app

        Now where are Apple’s detailed sales reports, poving that this isn’t paid with the device?