I’ll get right into it, I think most app subscriptions shouldn’t exist.
Not because I have a vendetta against subscriptions, but because in most cases, they are used as a substitute. They are used as a mask to hide the lack of real upgrade pricing.
When a developer feels like they need to have a continuous stream of money coming in, for them to work on and improve an app, it’s because they want security to allow them to continue. They want reassurance that they won’t be wasting time.
A more honest solution would be that if you work on a major update to an app, that you could make it available alongside an upgrade price.
It then gives agency to the user, where they can make a decision on whether they want to pay for an upgrade. Sometimes an app works for you, and there’s no extra value to be gained. Other users may appreciate the increase in functionality and would be willing to pay for it.
It also assures the developer that they can work on an upgraded version of their app, and not have it lose them time or money. From both existing users upgrading, and from the potential of new users.
If I suddenly announced that Text Case was moving to a subscription model, I expect a lot of people wouldn’t be best pleased. Sure, I could make the argument that this would come with regular updates, but what if someone is fine with the app how it is? Why would you need to pay for something you don’t want?
But at the same time, if I spent months working on a whole new version of the app, I’d feel a bit weird releasing it to everyone as a free update. But if I could make it both the new default version for new customers and offer it to existing users at a much smaller upgrade price, that would make a lot more sense.
Coinbase has accused Apple of forcing it to remove NFT transfers from its Wallet app on iOS. On Thursday, it tweeted that Apple “blocked our last app release until we disabled the feature” because the iPhone maker wanted the blockchain fees associated with an NFT transfer to go through its in-app purchase system, giving it a 30 percent cut.
Apple’s claim is that the gas fees required to send NFTs need to be paid through their In-App Purchase system, so that they can collect 30% of the gas fee.
Apple did update their App Store guidelines in October to mention rules around NFTs. App Store Review Guidelines (3.1.1):
Apps may use in-app purchase to sell and sell services related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as minting, listing, and transferring. Apps may allow users to view their own NFTs, provided that NFT ownership does not unlock features or functionality within the app. Apps may allow users to browse NFT collections owned by others, provided that the apps may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase.
I guess it’s a rule now. So you could argue that Coinbase just have to get on with it. But this all does seem like yet another greedy move from Apple.
$5 should be the absolute rock bottom price for a quality indie app, full stop. So, for whoever might need to hear this: stop kidding yourself, you’re not going to make it up in volume, raise your dang prices, thank you and good night.
I wouldn’t class Text Case as some kind of massively featured app, but I recently rose the price of it from its initial price of $1 to $2 with the last 2.0 update. But now I’m starting to think I should up it to $3.
Some Information on the iTunes Affiliate Program Payment Threshold #
After the recent announcement of the iTunes Affiliate program closing for Apps, I reached out to iTunes Affiliate Support for some help on how payments would be released.
The way the program works is that all commission is separated into the currency that it was earned from. So they each accrue their individual amounts, and after the minimum threshold (My account is set to £20) is met, you can then release (or set it up to be automatic) the funds.
But for people like myself who didn’t particularly make much money from the program, there are quite a few currencies that haven’t hit that. Some of them are nearly at the mark, but I wasn’t sure how Apple would deal with this. I didn’t like the idea of having earnings not paid simply because they didn’t hit the minimum amount, as the ability to earn more to boost the number is being removed, for apps at least.
However, the Affiliate Program team got back to me and it’s good news. The payment threshold will be lifted after the change happens:
Regarding App Store commissions, we will waive the payment threshold requirement after the program change takes place in October. These payments will be available to you approximately 60 days thereafter with our regularly scheduled invoice cycle. You will be able to release these payments once they have been received by Performance Horizon and processed.
They also assured that the payments should be released by mid-December.
I don’t think this information will be particularly useful to everyone, but it was something I was unsure of, so I thought I’d spread the news.