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Developer Steve Troughton-Smith watched all of today’s workshop between Apple and the EU on Digital Market Law and posted some highlights on Mastodon.
Of particular interest is the exchange between Apple representatives and Riley Testut, the developer of AltStore, an existing third-party location where you can get apps for jailbroken iPhones. Testut has already announced that AltStore will be available as a third-party app marketplace in Europe under his DMA. It’s worth a look, so I’ve embedded the post with the video below, and 9to5Mac has also transcribed it.
During the workshop, Mr. Testut used the time to ask questions about core technology fees. Apple’s new trading terms in Europe (required if you wish to distribute your app through a non-Apple app marketplace or via the web) will see him receive a €0.50 fee for each of his first 1 million app installs. It takes. Testut rightly points out that when a free app like the one you created in high school becomes popular, it can easily incur enough costs to ruin a young developer’s life.
Kyle Andia, Apple’s vice president of legal affairs, offered a sympathetic response, saying the company continues to work to find a good solution and is “hopeful.”
Obviously, there have already been a lot of changes to Apple’s original DMA plans, including the late addition of a web distribution, but this certainly seems to hint at more changes to come.
CTF has been a controversial topic among developers. Certainly, it’s a potential deterrent for those looking to distribute apps outside of the App Store, especially if the app derives revenue from elsewhere, such as in-app purchases or subscriptions that aren’t available through advertising. Masu. (Yes, just to be clear, that’s exactly why his Apple is setting its fees.)
However, free apps in particular seem to be the biggest problem. When the App Store debuted with a fee model, it was relatively easy for Apple to say it wouldn’t charge developers anything if their apps didn’t make any money. But as the boom in in-app advertising and subscription services shows, not all free apps are created equal. This is a bed of its own making, but it’s no surprise that the company is trying to change course to close these loopholes. The same momentum has been at the heart of many questionable App Store policy decisions made by Apple over the past decade. plus.
Still, it seems like completely free apps, including open source apps, certainly shouldn’t be subject to core technology fees. From Apple’s perspective, the question is how to police it. For example, what about apps that are distributed for free outside of the App Store, but have large Patreon communities that generate significant revenue?
That in turn leads to the root of the question. do Does Apple have the right to take some of the apps that aren’t distributed through its own marketplace? There is no denying that the company benefits from the huge ecosystem of software available on its devices, especially his iPhone. And the way the CTF is currently structured, it could very well have a chilling effect among younger developers who can’t risk the downside, a demographic Apple is particularly focused on championing. expensive.
While I’m skeptical that the entire CTF will eventually be scrapped, I doubt there will be any additional carve-outs down the road, especially when it comes to free/open source apps (or perhaps Apple will use the CTF will significantly increase its install volume before being discarded (which will allow it to target its biggest rivals even more specifically). It’s been almost a week since the last change, so check carefully to see if a new batch arrives.
[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the supernatural detective story All Souls Lost, is out now.]
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