Apple proposes to take a 15% cut of purchases made outside the App Store

ebilgenius•about 1 hour ago

I guess I just don't understand the indefensible greed on display here from Apple. If Apple's App Store & development software truly were still world-class & easy to build/rely on then at least one could defend a "quality tax" of sorts. That'd still be bad, but it's something.

As it stands currently, with the quality of their software & App Store benefits they should be discounting all fees by like ~50% at least.

ElProlactin•3 minutes ago

> I guess I just don't understand the indefensible greed on display here from Apple.

The point is that greed is so embedded in the culture today that they don't even have to defend it.

_aavaa_•about 1 hour ago

It is just that. Greed. They would do it on macOS too if they could get away with it, but they know they can’t and so don’t make the argument. What? macOS doesn’t require investment into the platform?

That alone settles the matter for me when the apologists inevitably show up.

leptons•43 minutes ago

The DOJ had started a lawsuit against Apple due to their rampantly greedy business practices, but who knows where that is going now since Tim Apple gave a golden trophy to the current president.

https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/media/1344546/dl?inline

expedition32•20 minutes ago

Download a program and you have to pay the OS maker for it was never a thing on PC but apparently a smartphone is seen differently.

throwaway27448•about 1 hour ago

People put up with it for the last fifteen years or whatever; why would they care now?

satvikpendem•about 2 hours ago

15% is still insane. Wasn't it supposed to be a cost based fee based on the latest ruling, not a flat percentage?

randyrand•about 2 hours ago

They should continue this line of thinking even further.

Start charging people for all facets of their life. Use access to their iPhone as leverage.

kraussvonespy•about 2 hours ago

C'mon Apple. Ease off on the app store fees, let innovation blossom again, maybe use some of that momentum to encourage game developers to use the Mac platform for gaming. Consider throwing some extra GPU cores in future M<whatever> chips and manufacture cheap Mac Minis / Macbook Neos that come preoptimized for Steam (and other) games.

My ultimate goal: I'd really like to be able to play modern games on a laptop that doesn't also act as a makeshift space heater / 110db white noise generator.

tomasphan•about 2 hours ago

Its sad how many cool apps no longer exists in the app store. I had a cool fluid sim, bridge building game and a game called Soccer Physics that I could play coop on a plane. Not sure why they're gone but presumably the creator didn't want to shell out developer fees.

kotaKat•about 1 hour ago

What was it, Epic charges 63% in Fortnite starting Jan 1 2027?

https://www.fortnite.com/news/fortnite-developers-will-soon-...

I'm done putting up with this stupid pointless fight at this point so some slimy greasy developer can prey on kids some more with stupid cosmetic skins for a video game. Has Spotify kept complaining now that they've piled on the AI slop and stopped paying artists for their music and bragged they've got over 300 million paid sheep? Nope.

ergocoder•7 minutes ago

Actually, increasing the fees will lead to more expensive in-game products. Higher price = higher barrier will reduce the number of players.

Therefore, this is opposite of praying on the kids.

butvacuum•32 minutes ago

The willful ignorance on this topic has always been absurd. Valve skims the same 30% off a game sale as apple DID... Apple switched to 15% for below 1mil revenue. If you have only free apps you can apply for the annual developer fee to be waived as well.

bell-cot•about 2 hours ago

Daydream: US Gov't says "Sure, go for it! BTW, we'll now be talking an extra 15% cut of all transactions that you do using our dollars."

moi2388•15 minutes ago

You mean VAT?

luqtas•about 2 hours ago

woah! don't be so harshy... they sell hardware at loss /s

bellowsgulch•about 2 hours ago

Fuck Apple.

Apple proposes to take a 15% cut of purchases made outside the App Store

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Discussion (15 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews