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I know math. But my point is that no solution will ever be satisfactory. Is 9% too high? 6%? 3%? Also, think on the reverse situation. Apple currently makes 0$

I know math. But my point is that no solution will ever be satisfactory. Is 9% too high? 6%? 3%? Also, think on the reverse situation. Apple currently makes 0$ on the sale of free apps but obviously these apps have a cost in storage and distribution. ¿What is the "fair" proposition in that case?

baldfat 9y ago
> Apple currently makes 0$ on the sale of free apps That is 100% not true and probably right now Apple makes most of their App Store money from free apps. 98% of Google Play income is from free apps. https://www.smartappmarketer.com/how-do-free-apps-make-money/ https://www.smartappmarketer.com/how-do-free-apps-make-money...
- wklauss 9y ago
  Apps that use in-app purchases are not free apps, they are priced apps that defer payment. There are millions of real free apps in the AppStore.
  - Karunamon 9y ago
    That's a bit of a broad brush statement. An IAP could be any one of: * An upgrade of some sort (often ad removal) * In-game currency (which may or may not be a defacto requirement) * A tip to the developer with no added functionality Neither of those carries an implication for the pricing status of the title. It's all context-dependent.
- stevefeinstein 9y ago
  Apple makes at least $99/yr for each free app (Developer's program fee)
  - jstanley 9y ago
    Apple makes $99/yr for each free app developer. There's nothing stopping any developer from releasing multiple apps.
jclardy 9y ago
For like 95% of apps the $99 yearly developer fee more than covers the storage and distribution. A terabyte of data transfer is about $100 on S3, most apps are a few MB at most and will never reach that many downloads in a year, even with re-downloads and updates. The fair thing is anything lower than what it is now. Distribution costs have dropped dramatically, and user trust has increased so accepting credit cards on your own really isn't as huge of a deal as it was ten years ago. Visibility is now zero from the App Store as well which was also a benefit back in the early days.
- derefr 9y ago
  Free apps must, just like paid apps, still get reviewed by human Apple employees on every release, which (I would assume) is a far greater cost than distribution, and might heavily outweigh the $99 charge in the case of complex free apps like Facebook or Chrome.
- charlesdm 9y ago
  If prices of anything were ever determined by the price of a terabyte of data, you'd be right. However, in this case, they are not. The price of data is wholly irrelevant to this discussion. As an app developer, I can tell you that visibility is not zero. If you understand how the store works, there is still excellent money to be made there. The 30% cut isn't outrageous. You just can't be pushing shovelware.

baldfat 9y ago

> Apple currently makes 0$ on the sale of free apps That is 100% not true and probably right now Apple makes most of their App Store money from free apps. 98% of Google Play income is from free apps. https://www.smartappmarketer.com/how-do-free-apps-make-money/ https://www.smartappmarketer.com/how-do-free-apps-make-money...

wklauss 9y ago
Apps that use in-app purchases are not free apps, they are priced apps that defer payment. There are millions of real free apps in the AppStore.
- Karunamon 9y ago
  That's a bit of a broad brush statement. An IAP could be any one of: * An upgrade of some sort (often ad removal) * In-game currency (which may or may not be a defacto requirement) * A tip to the developer with no added functionality Neither of those carries an implication for the pricing status of the title. It's all context-dependent.
stevefeinstein 9y ago
Apple makes at least $99/yr for each free app (Developer's program fee)
- jstanley 9y ago
  Apple makes $99/yr for each free app developer. There's nothing stopping any developer from releasing multiple apps.

jclardy 9y ago

For like 95% of apps the $99 yearly developer fee more than covers the storage and distribution. A terabyte of data transfer is about $100 on S3, most apps are a few MB at most and will never reach that many downloads in a year, even with re-downloads and updates. The fair thing is anything lower than what it is now. Distribution costs have dropped dramatically, and user trust has increased so accepting credit cards on your own really isn't as huge of a deal as it was ten years ago. Visibility is now zero from the App Store as well which was also a benefit back in the early days.

derefr 9y ago
Free apps must, just like paid apps, still get reviewed by human Apple employees on every release, which (I would assume) is a far greater cost than distribution, and might heavily outweigh the $99 charge in the case of complex free apps like Facebook or Chrome.
charlesdm 9y ago
If prices of anything were ever determined by the price of a terabyte of data, you'd be right. However, in this case, they are not. The price of data is wholly irrelevant to this discussion. As an app developer, I can tell you that visibility is not zero. If you understand how the store works, there is still excellent money to be made there. The 30% cut isn't outrageous. You just can't be pushing shovelware.