How so? I manage well over 10 App Store Connect and around 7 Android Play Store accounts all with 1-3 apps in them, all free, no IAP, no cut for Apple. I've never felt like it was an uphill battle.
While the app review process is incredibly flawed, I haven't experienced anything that paid apps or apps using IAP run into as well. As in, free apps aren't "targeted" in any way I can see.
On stores like Google Play, the design favors apps with ad revenue, IAPs, or growth metrics — not minimal, ethical apps with no monetization. Free, privacy-respecting tools often get buried or flagged for things like lack of user engagement, sparse permissions, or not following monetization guidelines (like not using Google’s billing).
That’s why I released my app, MBCompass, on F-Droid first. It's where users expect simple, ethical apps — and where visibility isn't tied to commercial strategy.
So yeah, free apps aren't “targeted,” but the environment isn’t really designed to support or surface them either.
Thankfully, I don’t have mess with any of that. All the apps I oversee are companion apps to another service. I’m not trying to attract people _on_ the AppStore to my app. People get the app because they use the service.