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The $100 fee is not the issue. You also give up 15% or 30% of revenue to Apple; have to go through app review on every update facing arbitrary rejection; have

The $100 fee is not the issue. You also give up 15% or 30% of revenue to Apple; have to go through app review on every update facing arbitrary rejection; have no direct relationship with your users; can't offer upgrade pricing on significant new releases (existing users either get the new release for free or you make it a new SKU thus forcing everyone to pay full price, including existing users).

ogre_codes 6y ago
Well Gumroad, the storefront he's using charges 5% or 3.5% + $10/ month so unless you are earning more than $1m/ year you are only saving 10-11.5%. Plus you have to host your own code which is another (very small) fee. You also lose access to some of Apple's cloud service like Sign in With Apple which some customers prefer (self included). There are also some additional sales just due to being in the App Store. Which is to say, the getting rid of that 15% fee isn't a slam dunk. Even before the Apple Tax cut, many developers chose to use the App Store even when the fee was 30% for good reason. I suspect if you are earning $900k in the App Store and launching a new product the math gets quite weird.
- foepys 6y ago
  > unless you are earning more than $1m/ year you are only saving 10-11.5% 10% is a lot.
  - ogre_codes 6y ago
    If you sell 50 copies independently for $100 you save $10 or $500. If listing it in the App Store means you would sell 150 copies instead, how much is that savings worth? I didn't suggest it was cheap, I said many people find it's worth spending the money.
webmobdev 6y ago
For me, $100 annual fees is also an issue. It's just an unnecessary and useless burden for not just open source softwares, but commercial wares too. Moreover, why should Apple get a monopoly on this - non-profits like EFF or the FSF should be allowed to do something similar, or even other corporates. Isn't that what we do currently with browsers and certificates?
p0nce 6y ago
For $100 you get a precious _codesigning_ certificate, the equivalent cost more money on Windows because it's not organized by Microsoft but left to 3rd-party vendors that abuse their position. Codesigning is essential for security.
- kranner 6y ago
  I actually argued that $100 is not a big hurdle, but now I feel I should ask why it can't be $10? SSL certificates used to cost a lot until LetsEncrypt made them free.
  - p0nce 6y ago
    IIRC LetsEncrypt provide website certificates but not codesigning certificates. The entities giving codesigning cert need to verify you exist by checking an company index and phonecalling you. Apple makes it way easier on their platform.

ogre_codes 6y ago

Well Gumroad, the storefront he's using charges 5% or 3.5% + $10/ month so unless you are earning more than $1m/ year you are only saving 10-11.5%. Plus you have to host your own code which is another (very small) fee. You also lose access to some of Apple's cloud service like Sign in With Apple which some customers prefer (self included). There are also some additional sales just due to being in the App Store. Which is to say, the getting rid of that 15% fee isn't a slam dunk. Even before the Apple Tax cut, many developers chose to use the App Store even when the fee was 30% for good reason. I suspect if you are earning $900k in the App Store and launching a new product the math gets quite weird.

foepys 6y ago
> unless you are earning more than $1m/ year you are only saving 10-11.5% 10% is a lot.
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  If you sell 50 copies independently for $100 you save $10 or $500. If listing it in the App Store means you would sell 150 copies instead, how much is that savings worth? I didn't suggest it was cheap, I said many people find it's worth spending the money.

webmobdev 6y ago

For me, $100 annual fees is also an issue. It's just an unnecessary and useless burden for not just open source softwares, but commercial wares too. Moreover, why should Apple get a monopoly on this - non-profits like EFF or the FSF should be allowed to do something similar, or even other corporates. Isn't that what we do currently with browsers and certificates?

p0nce 6y ago

For $100 you get a precious _codesigning_ certificate, the equivalent cost more money on Windows because it's not organized by Microsoft but left to 3rd-party vendors that abuse their position. Codesigning is essential for security.

kranner 6y ago
I actually argued that $100 is not a big hurdle, but now I feel I should ask why it can't be $10? SSL certificates used to cost a lot until LetsEncrypt made them free.
- p0nce 6y ago
  IIRC LetsEncrypt provide website certificates but not codesigning certificates. The entities giving codesigning cert need to verify you exist by checking an company index and phonecalling you. Apple makes it way easier on their platform.