To a much lesser degree, but yes. The DMA explicitly allows for this.
> In fact, it will be impossible for alternative stores to offer free apps because they will owe Apple €0.50 per install after the installed base passes 1M (updates count as "installs").
This is misreading. Alternative stores would only owe a CTF for their own store being installed (no threshold). The free apps within the store are subject to the threshold and are to be paid by the developers of said apps.
> They're also going to gatekeep alternative stores with a vetting process that will probably exclude anything community-run.
Yes. Pretty much.
Apple will require a letter of credit of $1M for any potential alternative store, this is in part for liability reasons and in part to better ensure the marketplace can fulfill its duties in terms of safety etc. I think it’s pretty reasonable, but yes, it is a hurdle for community run or grassroots alternative stores.
> Perhaps the most interesting thing is they appear to be cutting the App Store commission to 10%, giving the lie to their claims that their fees are reasonable due to the service they provide.
Your premise is off. They claimed, the agreement structures it as, and the courts accepted, that the commission was primarily to pay for Apple’s IP, with services being secondary.
Whether something reasonable or not differs from reasonable mind to reasonable mind. So I can’t make any judgement calls on that.
But the way they’ve restructured the fees for the EU definitely suggests a consistent logic on the part of Apple.
They still offer the 15% commission for small developers and renewals after the first year and 30% for big developers.
Alternatively they offer a fee structure that is split with an a la carte character.
Namely:
- 10% or 17% commission for small or big developers respectively for the use of App Store services - 3% payment processing fee if you use Apple’s IAP payment processing - €0.50/install for each unique install in a year as Core Technology Fee (i.e., for use of IP) after 1M installs in a given year
With the last few, the IP fee, not being optional. Which makes sense because all apps use Apple’s frameworks and other IP whether you use their payment processing or App Store services or not.
So I don’t see a lie on the count of subjectivity and on the count of consistent logic.
> The most interesting thing that's not mentioned here is exactly how the inevitable geofencing will work to enforce that the rest of the world doesn't get to use alternative stores or browser engines.
A while back there was a daemon found that fulfills this job. I believe it was called countryd and it uses a combination of cellular network, account data, WiFi country code and the like.
> On top of the annual Apple developer program fee that they conveniently forget to mention, plus the requirement to do builds and signing on physical Mac hardware purchased from Apple.
The annual fee is negligible and spent as soon as you start submitting a a build or two per month.
The hardware cost is an argument that always makes me chuckle because there’s always cost in tooling involved. Whether you buy a hammer, a windows laptop or a Mac. At that point why stop there, why not throw in the cost of electricity and an internet connection?