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This article explains this new program for those (like me) who had no idea what a "mini app" was and why it matters: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/13/apple-

This article explains this new program for those (like me) who had no idea what a "mini app" was and why it matters: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/13/apple-announces-mini-apps-partner-program/ https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/13/apple-announces-mini-ap... tldr: it will let Apple charge a commission (although at 15%, it's half the normal 30% rate for the app store) on popular web app games embedded in to WeChat for the Chinese market

nixpulvis 11mo ago
[flagged]
- testing22321 11mo ago
  I really detest Walmart too. OMG and Starbucks too. Amazon is the worst. And man oh man do I hate McDonald’s. You know what I do? I don’t give any of them a cent. Ever. It’s cool we can choose what is and is not part of our lives.
  - sanex 11mo ago
    Imagine if there were only two restaurants. You'd end up at McDonald's again.
    - testing22321 11mo ago
      No. I’d cook at home. I don’t have a phone.
      - sanex 11mo ago
        Hats off to you. I bet you don't have Instagram induced ADD or crippling anxiety.
        JumpCrisscross 11mo ago
        > bet you don't have Instagram induced ADD I mean, they don’t have a phone. So probably not.
      - bloqs 11mo ago
        honestly, mad respect
    - ChrisMarshallNY 11mo ago
      Ah ... fine Caledonian cuisine ...
    - eru 11mo ago
      There's more than two smartphone manufacturers. And eg Huawei doesn't take part in the Google app store.
- pcdoodle 11mo ago
  Industry wide tax, even the mafia gave you a better vig.
- adamhartenz 11mo ago
  They are not forcing you to make apps and put them on the store. If you want their services, then pay them. If not, then good luck to ya.
- api 11mo ago
  Don’t buy iOS devices then. I look at mobile devices, especially iOS, as “consoles” akin to a Nintendo Switch. It’s not a “real computer,” the definition of which requires the ability to run any code I want. It does whar it does pretty well and it is what it is.
  - sodality2 11mo ago
    FWIW this is how most informed consumers think as well. People buy iOS, consoles, etc because they want a walled garden. I think the real way out is getting consumers to see and value the benefits of leaving it.
    - sahila 11mo ago
      This seems like a leap that consumers buy them >"because they want a walled garden" I doubt most consumers would care if you could sideload apps on their iOS device or play PlayStation and Nintendo games on their Xbox. In fact most consumers would be all for it! They buy these things because they find there's already enough value there.
      - sodality2 11mo ago
        I don't think so - the hugely negative perception of virus-laden wildlands on Android (which is somewhat true! most people could be tricked into bypassing the security prompts) makes people choose a safer option time after time. You could absolutely make the case that users ought to be smarter, use technology as a power user, etc, but that's not the reality at the moment.
        bigyabai 11mo ago
        > the hugely negative perception of virus-laden wildlands on Android I... don't see this in real life? There have always been San Bernadino-emboldened Apple customers that love to dunk on Android security, but recently that's gone away. Trojan horses are making it through[0] Apple's manual review, NSO Group has working exploits more often than not, the US government has wiretapped Push Notifications[1] and Apple has seemingly slowed their persecution of organized hacking groups. iOS is in a post-Pegasus world. Android was perceived to be vulnerable if you downloaded the wrong app; iOS was proven to be vulnerable if you received an SMS payload from any user. And Apple has admitted that they cannot even really detect it[2] anymore. Neither educated users nor common people are associating Apple with security, especially now. [0] https://blog.lastpass.com/posts/warning-fraudulent-app-impersonating-lastpass-currently-available-in-apple-app-store https://blog.lastpass.com/posts/warning-fraudulent-app-imper... [1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/apple-admits-to-secretly-giving-governments-push-notification-data/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/apple-admits-to-... [2] https://9to5mac.com/2025/02/20/apple-currently-only-able-to-detect-pegasus-spyware-in-half-of-infected-iphones/ https://9to5mac.com/2025/02/20/apple-currently-only-able-to-...
- anomaly_ 11mo ago
  [flagged]
- tomhow 11mo ago
  Please don't fulminate on HN. The guidelines are clear that we're aiming for something better than this here. We've had to ask you repeatedly to avoid this style of conduct here. Please take a moment to read the guidelines and make an effort to observe them. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - nixpulvis 11mo ago
    I'll try to keep this in mind. This comment clearly is just frustration (which I believe to be warranted, but still unwelcome here) and I'm sorry for that. Other recent posts related to the Apple ecosystem I think don't fall into this category, since they point out real issues with the systems and inform reader of topics.
    - tomhow 11mo ago
      Many thanks. Critique is fine, we just don't want this place to be a rage fest.
JimDabell 11mo ago
> although at 15%, it's half the normal 30% rate for the app store 15% is the normal rate for the App Store. Only developers earning above $1MM/yr through the App Store have to pay 30%, the vast majority of developers only pay 15%.
- jasongill 11mo ago
  I assume WeChat is above the $1m/yr threshold
- wahnfrieden 11mo ago
  It's not "normal", you have to "apply" (and get auto-accepted) but won't get the rate if you don't know to do that. You'll also get permanently booted from it if you do some things like transfer ownership of an account (if you want to sell an app you made, IIRC you lose access to this program, even if the app makes under a million).
x0x0 11mo ago
This is a partnership the same way restaurants "partner" with the mob.
jamesgeck0 11mo ago
Mini apps are way more than web games. For a lot of people in China, WeChat is effectively their operating system. The platform hosts _millions_ of mini apps covering a significant percentage of the use cases that a mobile developer elsewhere in the world might build a native app for. As such, it seems like WeChat has historically gotten away with a lot of stuff kinda sorta on the edge of the policies that Apple enforces on everyone else.

nixpulvis 11mo ago

[flagged]

testing22321 11mo ago
I really detest Walmart too. OMG and Starbucks too. Amazon is the worst. And man oh man do I hate McDonald’s. You know what I do? I don’t give any of them a cent. Ever. It’s cool we can choose what is and is not part of our lives.
- sanex 11mo ago
  Imagine if there were only two restaurants. You'd end up at McDonald's again.
  - testing22321 11mo ago
    No. I’d cook at home. I don’t have a phone.
    - sanex 11mo ago
      Hats off to you. I bet you don't have Instagram induced ADD or crippling anxiety.
      - JumpCrisscross 11mo ago
        > bet you don't have Instagram induced ADD I mean, they don’t have a phone. So probably not.
    - bloqs 11mo ago
      honestly, mad respect
  - ChrisMarshallNY 11mo ago
    Ah ... fine Caledonian cuisine ...
  - eru 11mo ago
    There's more than two smartphone manufacturers. And eg Huawei doesn't take part in the Google app store.
pcdoodle 11mo ago
Industry wide tax, even the mafia gave you a better vig.
adamhartenz 11mo ago
They are not forcing you to make apps and put them on the store. If you want their services, then pay them. If not, then good luck to ya.
api 11mo ago
Don’t buy iOS devices then. I look at mobile devices, especially iOS, as “consoles” akin to a Nintendo Switch. It’s not a “real computer,” the definition of which requires the ability to run any code I want. It does whar it does pretty well and it is what it is.
- sodality2 11mo ago
  FWIW this is how most informed consumers think as well. People buy iOS, consoles, etc because they want a walled garden. I think the real way out is getting consumers to see and value the benefits of leaving it.
  - sahila 11mo ago
    This seems like a leap that consumers buy them >"because they want a walled garden" I doubt most consumers would care if you could sideload apps on their iOS device or play PlayStation and Nintendo games on their Xbox. In fact most consumers would be all for it! They buy these things because they find there's already enough value there.
    - sodality2 11mo ago
      I don't think so - the hugely negative perception of virus-laden wildlands on Android (which is somewhat true! most people could be tricked into bypassing the security prompts) makes people choose a safer option time after time. You could absolutely make the case that users ought to be smarter, use technology as a power user, etc, but that's not the reality at the moment.
      - bigyabai 11mo ago
        > the hugely negative perception of virus-laden wildlands on Android I... don't see this in real life? There have always been San Bernadino-emboldened Apple customers that love to dunk on Android security, but recently that's gone away. Trojan horses are making it through[0] Apple's manual review, NSO Group has working exploits more often than not, the US government has wiretapped Push Notifications[1] and Apple has seemingly slowed their persecution of organized hacking groups. iOS is in a post-Pegasus world. Android was perceived to be vulnerable if you downloaded the wrong app; iOS was proven to be vulnerable if you received an SMS payload from any user. And Apple has admitted that they cannot even really detect it[2] anymore. Neither educated users nor common people are associating Apple with security, especially now. [0] https://blog.lastpass.com/posts/warning-fraudulent-app-impersonating-lastpass-currently-available-in-apple-app-store https://blog.lastpass.com/posts/warning-fraudulent-app-imper... [1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/apple-admits-to-secretly-giving-governments-push-notification-data/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/apple-admits-to-... [2] https://9to5mac.com/2025/02/20/apple-currently-only-able-to-detect-pegasus-spyware-in-half-of-infected-iphones/ https://9to5mac.com/2025/02/20/apple-currently-only-able-to-...
anomaly_ 11mo ago
[flagged]
tomhow 11mo ago
Please don't fulminate on HN. The guidelines are clear that we're aiming for something better than this here. We've had to ask you repeatedly to avoid this style of conduct here. Please take a moment to read the guidelines and make an effort to observe them. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- nixpulvis 11mo ago
  I'll try to keep this in mind. This comment clearly is just frustration (which I believe to be warranted, but still unwelcome here) and I'm sorry for that. Other recent posts related to the Apple ecosystem I think don't fall into this category, since they point out real issues with the systems and inform reader of topics.
  - tomhow 11mo ago
    Many thanks. Critique is fine, we just don't want this place to be a rage fest.

JimDabell 11mo ago

> although at 15%, it's half the normal 30% rate for the app store 15% is the normal rate for the App Store. Only developers earning above $1MM/yr through the App Store have to pay 30%, the vast majority of developers only pay 15%.

jasongill 11mo ago
I assume WeChat is above the $1m/yr threshold
wahnfrieden 11mo ago
It's not "normal", you have to "apply" (and get auto-accepted) but won't get the rate if you don't know to do that. You'll also get permanently booted from it if you do some things like transfer ownership of an account (if you want to sell an app you made, IIRC you lose access to this program, even if the app makes under a million).

x0x0 11mo ago

This is a partnership the same way restaurants "partner" with the mob.

jamesgeck0 11mo ago

Mini apps are way more than web games. For a lot of people in China, WeChat is effectively their operating system. The platform hosts _millions_ of mini apps covering a significant percentage of the use cases that a mobile developer elsewhere in the world might build a native app for. As such, it seems like WeChat has historically gotten away with a lot of stuff kinda sorta on the edge of the policies that Apple enforces on everyone else.