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Don’t count on a mobile app making you rich; you’ll likely make $50/month

Mobile app revenue | Charts on a MacBook screen

If you’ve got big dreams about earning a living from creating iPhone apps, a new report makes for some sobering reading. The median monthly revenue generated by an app after a year on the App Store is less than $50 per month.

There is some encouraging news, though: There seems to be a tipping point if you can get an app to the point where it’s earning $1,000 per month …

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Apple will allow users to download apps directly from a developer’s website, in latest EU App Store rule change

Apple App Store EU

Last week, Apple released iOS 17.4 with big changes to the iPhone and App Store ecosystem to comply with the Digital Markets Act in the European Union. This includes things like support for alternative app marketplaces, new business terms and in-app purchase options, and more.

Now, Apple has announced a few additional changes in response to feedback it’s received from developers so far. Most notably, Apple will launch a new Web Distribution feature later this spring that lets developers offer their apps for download directly from their website.

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Age verification should be Apple’s job, says Tinder parent Match

Age verification should be Apple's job | Young woman partly covering her face

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has argued that for age-restricted apps, age verification should be Apple’s job. He’s now been joined in this view by the new head of trust and safety at Match, the company behind leading dating apps like Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and Plenty of Fish.

Yoel Roth – who formerly had the same role in Twitter – said that Apple and Google are in a better position to accurately assess the age of their smartphone users …

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The law doesn’t allow Apple to threaten Epic, says EU commissioner

The law doesn't allow Apple to threaten Epic | Abstract image of man silhouetted against red smoke

Apple appeared to threaten Epic Games, when the company cancelled its developer account for the second time, and cited the developer’s public criticisms of the iPhone maker as one of the reasons.

The European Commissioner, who heads up the executive branch of the European Union, has now suggested that this breaks the law …

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Apple’s Epic ban is questioned by EU regulators, as more details emerge

Apple's Epic ban | Photo of lawyer fastening jacket

Apple’s Epic ban – which saw the iPhone maker again terminate a developer account used by the games company – is being questioned by EU antitrust regulators.

More details also emerged of follow-ups to Phil Schiller’s demand for written assurances of good faith by both Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Apple’s lawyers …

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Apple’s DMA response could render the law toothless, say campaign groups

Apple's DMA response | Rainbow Apple logo on iPhone

Campaign groups say that if the EU lets Apple get away with its response to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), then the law will be rendered toothless.

Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta have all taken the same approach to the antitrust law, say the groups: to seek technical compliance while ensuring that their market dominance remains protected …

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Apple revises App Store rules in the EU in response to developer feedback

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Today’s release of iOS 17.4 comes with big changes for the iPhone and App Store in the European Union, including alternative app marketplaces. In a new developer update, Apple has the details on three changes it is making to alternative app distribution in response to feedback it’s received over the last several weeks.

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Spotify and other companies criticize Apple in letter to EU commission

Apple App Store EU

Apple will soon roll out major changes to iOS users in the EU as part of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust legislation. However, many developers have been unhappy with Apple’s proposals to comply with the DMA. Because of this, Spotify and dozens of other companies have now shared a letter to the European Commission complaining about “Apple’s lack of DMA compliance.”

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Apple says iOS 17.4 won’t remove Home Screen web apps in the EU after all

Apple App Store EU

Last month, Apple confirmed that iOS 17.4 would remove support for Home Screen web apps in the European Union. At the time, Apple said this decision was due to requirements under the Digital Markets Act related to support for alternative browser engines on iPhone.

Apple is now walking back that decision and says it will “continue to offer the existing Home Screen web apps capability in the EU.”

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MacPaw announces ‘Setapp Mobile’ app store coming to the EU in April

Ahead of iOS 17.4 being released in March, MacPaw has announced its plans to offer an alternative app marketplace in the EU. According to the company, it will launch a beta version of Setapp Mobile in the EU in April.

The move makes MacPaw the first company to announce its detailed plans to take advantage of iOS 17.4’s support for alternative app marketplaces in the EU.

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Apple makes last-minute plea to DOJ not to file US antitrust suit

US antitrust suit decision close | Man and woman making their case in a meeting

Apple lawyers reportedly met with the Department of Justice last week, to make a last-minute plea for the agency not to file a US antitrust suit against the company.

Neither Apple nor the DOJ commented on the meeting, which follows the iPhone maker being accused of “malicious compliance” in its response to both the Supreme Court decision on the App Store, and European antitrust legislation taking effect next month …

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Netflix members with older subscriptions might get cut off if they don’t update

netflix

Update (Feb. 27 at 5:53 p.m. ET): Netflix says that this change impacts subscribers of the Basic plan in certain countries, including the United States and Canada.

Netflix is severing ties with Apple’s App Store billing system for good. Netflix stopped allowing new and rejoining subscribers to sign up with App Store billing back in 2018, but Netflix subscribers who were paying through Apple at the time were allowed to continue doing so. Now, that’s finally about to change.

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Apple Search Ads expands to Brazil and eight more countries

Apple Search Ads

Apple Search Ads is launching soon in more countries, expanding into the Latin America region. Ads will soon start appearing in the App Store for Brazil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Paraguay.

That means app developers will be able to market in more than 70 countries through Apple Search ads. With “Search Ads”, ads can be targeted to show up in the Today app, at the bottom of app product pages, at the top of search results and in the Search tab’s “Suggested” section.

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Meta and Microsoft ask EU to reject Apple’s new app store terms

Meta and Microsoft ask EU to reject Apple's new app store terms | 'Denied' stamp over App Store icon

Apple’s new app store terms have come under fire for what many are describing as ‘malicious compliance’ with the EU’s Digital Markets Act – that is, technically complying with the antitrust law while completely negating its intent.

A new report says that both Meta and Microsoft have now lobbied the EU, asking it to reject Apple’s new terms as “onerous” and “prohibitive” …

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Despite Apple’s rule changes, Microsoft says it’s not planning an Xbox Cloud Gaming app for iOS

Most of Apple’s recently-announced App Store changes are exclusively for iPhone users in the European Union, but there’s one exception. Apple also announced last month that it is relaxing its App Store Guidelines for cloud gaming apps worldwide

This opens the door for services like Xbox Cloud Gaming to finally release a native app for the iPhone and iPad, but apparently Microsoft is not interested in doing that.

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Apple confirms iOS 17.4 removes Home Screen web apps in the EU, here’s why

App Store security

iOS 17.4 offers a number of changes for the App Store and iPhone in the European Union. This includes things like third-party app marketplaces and support for alternative browser engines. One byproduct of these changes, however, is that iOS 17.4 removes support for Home Screen web apps in the EU.

Apple has now offered an explanation for this decision, confirming that the omission was not a bug. Instead, it’s because of requirements under the Digital Markets Act.

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visionOS App Store now has over 1,000 apps designed for Apple Vision Pro

Vision Pro availability (Apple promp image showing app grid) | visionOS

When Apple Vision Pro was launched in stores earlier this month, the company said that the visionOS App Store would already have more than 600 apps designed specifically for the new headset available on day one. A few days later, Apple has now confirmed that there are more than 1,000 apps built for Vision Pro available on the App Store.

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Apple pulls pirated movies and TV shows app disguised as a vision testing tool

Apple has pulled an app dedicated to streaming pirated movies and TV shows from the App Store. The app in question, “Kimi,” disguised itself as an app that “tests your eyesight.” In reality, it offered unfettered access to some of the most popular TV shows and movies.

“Compare and click on the two pictures to easily improve your observation skills,” the description said.

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How Apple handles imposter apps that try to sneak onto the App Store

App Store security

The issue of misleading apps on the App Store surfaced this week after yesterday’s LastPass incident. The folks behind the popular password manager needed to warn customers that an app called LassPass was pretending to be LastPass. While that’s a pretty egregious example of what can sneak through review, it can be helpful to have more context around how the App Store typically functions.

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Disney Epic Games partnership – and a return to the App Store?

Disney Epic Games partnership | Promo image

A Disney/Epic Games partnership announced this week may see the Fortnite developer return to the App Store despite the fractious relationship between Apple and Epic.

The collaboration will see new games featuring characters and stories across a range of Disney worlds, including Walt Disney, Star Wars, Pixar, and Marvel …

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