How much is enough for Apple? When will they have enough money? It seems to me there’s nothing they can’t have or build with the money they’ve accumulated.
Endless growth isn’t achievable, yet every step they take toward increasing profits does two things. It makes them less likable and more monopolistic. Apple was a better company when they were an underdog.
Apple used to fight for their lives, but now they barely have to work to make insane amounts of money. A product like the $3500 Apple Vision Pro can totally flop and Apple is fine. That’s the power they have. It’s also the power they abuse.
When we started developing apps for iPhone OS back in 2008, we gave up 30% of our revenue for distribution and payment processing. Not like we had a choice, because to develop for iPhone, it was the only way. That’s monopolistic power, which Apple started using at least sixteen years ago.
But since 2008, the services they provide in exchange for those recurring fees and percentage cut haven’t improved much. You’d think with all that services revenue, they’d invest it into making the developer program better.
Making apps is still not very approachable; newcomers still struggle to begin. Some of the same problems that existed over a decade ago still exist today. One could argue that app development actually got harder. There are more variables, more devices, and more features to support.
So if they’re not going to improve this, can we have our money back?
Or how about this? Apple could eliminate the $99 developer program fee. They could reduce their App Store cut to just 5% across the board. They’d still make a nice profit from developers, because developers aren’t just spending money on the developer program or Apple’s share of their revenue. Developers also buy a ton of devices (not just iPhones, but iPads, Apple Watches, etc). And they spend their entire professional lives dedicated to making apps for Apple devices, which is the entire reason Apple has the customer base it enjoys.
And that’s just it. Tim Cook can go on stage and say they paid out a bajillion dollars to developers, but at no point does Apple seem to understand that Apple would be nothing if people didn’t develop the bajillion apps they love to gloat about being in the App Store.
This is the entire value proposition of iPhone. Without the App Store, iPhone loses quite a lot of its value, because it would put immense pressure on Apple to make everything themselves. Apple knows someone out there will develop an app so they don’t have to. And that’s fine. What’s not fine is how they feel entitled to make money from that app, even when they didn’t make it.
People don’t buy our apps because Apple is selling them. But people do buy iPhones because we make apps for iPhones.
Which brings me to Patreon. People who donate to patrons are not giving money because of Apple at all. Apple is no part of the equation here. I would even argue that it’s not a sale; it’s a donation. Either way, Apple injecting themselves here is yet another example of them abusing monopolistic power to seek indirect revenue.
It’s not that Patreon should be an exception to the rule. It’s that Apple’s rule is built on the premise that they somehow deserve money for every sale that takes place on one of their devices. And that’s ridiculous. If a customer comes to me, why does Apple deserve a cut?
I understand that people can find and download our apps from searching on the App Store. In that situation, Apple can take their 30% finder’s fee. But if I link directly to my app, can they take a 0% cut? Because they didn’t do anything but host the file and process the transaction (which many of us would happily do ourselves if given the opportunity).
That’s what frustrates me. Independent developers work for the entire sale, but Apple doesn’t even work for their cut. In many ways, just being on the App Store is incredibly frustrating. We’re paying for pain while Apple gets paid for just relaxing.
Apple has near-saturation in their markets, which means there’s a very high chance someone who has an Apple device will be buying from someone else who likely has an Apple device. They already have huge profit margins on devices, so do they really need more money from these two parties?
At some point Apple should ask who is in better need of that money. I know they won’t, but I’d like to think we live in a world where they could. They don’t need more money. They don’t even need the money they have.
What they’re doing is not just irresponsible. It’s evil.

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