6 ms·

The core technology fee doesn't exist on the Mac.

• lapcat 3y ago
  How is taking 15% or 30% of all revenue better than €0.50 per first annual install?
  • internetter 3y ago
    Because it means you need to be making more than $3.3-$1.5 per user per year to break even on this, which is difficult
    • lapcat 3y ago
      > Because it means you need to be making more than $3.3-$1.5 per user per year to break even on this, which is difficult Perhaps this is the case inside the App Store, but it's not the case outside the App Store, where indie apps tend to be higher priced and upfront paid. Moreover, keep in mind that the first million first annual installs have no CTF, and most indie devs will never even reach that point.
      • internetter 3y ago
        > where indie apps tend to be higher priced and upfront paid If this is the case, this is an even worse deal, due to the annual install fee. If it was one time, it wouldn't be so bad.
        • lapcat 3y ago
          "Moreover, keep in mind that the first million first annual installs have no CTF, and most indie devs will never even reach that point." Thus the CTF is mostly nonexistent for indie devs. In any case, though, it's only 5 euros for 10 years of installs, and many indie apps have paid upgrades (which don't exist in the App Store) at least once every 5 years.
          • internetter 3y ago
            As an indie app developer myself, I don't want to have this reoccurring expense hanging over my head. As I incorporate, the 600$ in fixed yearly expenses is stressful enough.
            • lapcat 3y ago
              "Good news" then: this is merely a hypothetical conversation, and Apple won't allow you to distribute from your website unless you already have over a million EU users.
      • yusefnapora 3y ago
        But in order to qualify for distributing via your own website, you need to have had a million installs in the prior year. So everyone who could potentially use that distribution method will by definition be subject to the CTF. It seems like an indie dev's only non-Apple option that can avoid the CTF is to distribute through a third-party app marketplace and hope to stay under a million installs.
  • axxl 3y ago
    Because a revenue % is based on a financial transaction that guarantees you money where an install (which includes updates) does not.
  • CubsFan1060 3y ago
    If your app is ad-supported, you pay 0%. It also makes the freemium model viable. If you have an application that has in-app purchases, then people may download, play the free portion, and never pay you. If you have to pay $0.50 for that, then it may not go well. The 0.50 is probably much better if you're selling, say, a $10 app.
    • lapcat 3y ago
      > The 0.50 is probably much better if you're selling, say, a $10 app. That's precisely what indie devs outside the Mac App Store are doing. They don't have ad-supported apps. Most of them are upfront paid, perhaps with a time-limited demo. The business models that you're talking about are a product of the App Store race to the bottom.
  • mdekkers 3y ago
    > How is taking 15% or 30% of all revenue better than €0.50 per first annual install? I think for free apps that’s a bit of a big deal?
    • lapcat 3y ago
      Yes, of course, but again, this doesn't really apply to the indie developer situation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39678917 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39678917