Yes, you're correct. > $100/year is too much That's the issue, really. If you're paying for the developer program but you aren't uploading apps to the App Sto

Yes, you're correct. > $100/year is too much That's the issue, really. If you're paying for the developer program but you aren't uploading apps to the App Store, then you aren't using the program for its intended purpose. I honestly don't think Apple even wants to collect your $100/yr, which is a pretty insignificant sum from their perspective. It's probably just used as a basic anti-spam measure allowing their reviewers to keep up with the pace of App Store submissions and to do their job properly. They certainly would be entirely unaffected if they stopped collecting developer fees from the people who only use their membership for sideloading, since that number is most likely low enough to be completely insignificant. Anyway, I specify this under the "What would it mean for iOS to have sideloading?" section: > For the purposes of this website, an operating system supports sideloading if it provides some means for technically-inclined end users to permanently install native apps without prior approval from any company or organization, either free of charge, or for a reasonable one-time fee. [...] > Apple would not have to make sweeping changes to iOS in order to qualify; in fact, a minor policy change would be more than sufficient. For example, all it would take to qualify is for Apple to remove the unnecessary expiry dates from development certificates (which can only be used on the creator's own devices, and cannot be used for distribution). They currently expire after 7 days for free accounts, or 1 year for paid accounts. --- > but if you’re paying $1000+ every 2-3 years... I think this is unfair. iOS devices receive updates for at least 5 years, and they don't suddenly become useless after that point either. I for one don't upgrade my mobile devices until they stop getting updates, and I don't find myself yearning for the minor yearly upgrades we've been seeing lately (across the industry, not just Apple).