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Comment by croh | Hacker News Reader

> Let’s be honest, the majority of the apps charge in-app for every fart.

Apple/Google take 30 % of that fart, so you guess what they get at end.

> At the dawn of the app stores you could find a ton of free apps and games from hobbyists, it’s all about squeezing money.

Well apple charge you $100 per year to upload app, are you kidding ? Plus they don't let you have another store. Everything should must go thr' their wall, so no chance to avoid charge.

> And the guy in the article didn’t have to publish the app in the first place, could have uploaded the app to the phone directly through the dev tools.

How many phones he can upload it honestly ?

Anyway, the point I am tring to say is, Apple/Google are not valuing dev community as they used to and devs are taken granted for. They should care devs as they care for consumers PR as it is mutual platform

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> Well apple charge you $100 per year to upload app, are you kidding ?

IIRC Apple charged you 100$ as early as in 2013, that's when I bought a subscription myself for the first time. But the app landscape was much different back then and it didn't stop hobby developers from publishing.

> Apple/Google are not valuing dev community as they used to and devs are taken granted for

I mean, it's about making money, App Store is not a public good. If developers feel there's a better opportunity they can pursue other platform, but it seems like Google and Apple succeed at making the money-making developers happy. What else should matter to a public company?

Sure, it did. When I first got an ipod touch over a decade ago, I was excited to have something customizable. After all, all the marketing was focused on how wide a selection of apps existed, and the general vibe was that it was a good platform to develop for. I'd have loved to have made small utility apps for myself.

But, part of writing things for myself is wanting to share them with friends should they ask. And that requires either a $100 fee, or walking each friend through the process of requesting a developer license in order to run an unpublished app. The fee is a pittance for anybody doing large development, but was far more than college-me wanted to spend on an entrance fee to a language.

> Apple/Google take 30 % of that fart, so you guess what they get at end.

Typically 15% now.

> Typically 15% now.

Only because of the (still ongoing) anti-trust lawsuit against them.

That 30% is also the industry standard. (Microsoft, Google, Sony, Nintendo, Epic etc). Which has only recently started to shift.

Didn’t Apple basically set the standard? Seems like a weird way to justify it.

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