App Store

The Amazon Appstore has now joined Google in following Apple’s lead in reducing commissions for smaller developers – but with an interesting twist. The Amazon Appstore is an alternative place for people to download Android apps.

Apple last year announced its Small Business Program, a clever way to reduce antitrust pressure by reducing its cut of app sales to 15% for all but the very largest developers. Google did the same this year, in a rather fairer way, and now Amazon has come up with its own twist …

Analyst Ben Thompson believes that US antitrust legislation could put the Apple ecosystem at risk unless the company is prepared to compromise on the App Store.

The danger is that legislators may view the various ecosystem components as anti-competitive, but would be less likely to do so without the App Store playing such a central role …

House Democrats are reportedly set to announce no fewer than five US antitrust bills, one of which would in part target Apple’s App Store.

The planned legislation is based on recommendations made in the 450-page antitrust report, which found that Apple was among the tech companies to engage in “deeply disturbing” anticompetitive behavior …

Apple today updated the App Store Guidelines following the iOS 15 announcement earlier in the WWDC 2021 opening keynote. This time, Apple has further tightened the rules against apps with pornographic content, added new terms for misleading marketing, and ensured that digital gift cards can only be sold through the App Store’s in-app purchases system.

Less than an hour before Apple’s WWDC keynote kicks off, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared some news that the company would be keeping its paid online events free for creators through 2023. Notably, the platform is also going to start showing Apple’s fees as a line item for Facebook creators’ earnings with Zuckerberg using the opportunity to once again criticize the 30% App Store cut.

Checks run by the Washington Post revealed that App Store scam apps make up almost 2% of the top-grossing apps, despite CEO Tim Cook’s insistence that the app review process is effective at rejecting them.

The paper estimates that the scam apps have cost iPhone owners a total of $48 million …

The Next app, developed by Sorcererhat, has been updated with version 1.5, which now brings iPad support for the first time. Whether you want to rediscover lost Apple Music songs or create Magic DJs and playlists, now you can on a bigger screen.

In the summer of 2007, developers were anxious to hear how they fit into the iPhone story. Steve Jobs told developers at WWDC 2007 that Apple had come up with a “sweet solution” for developers to make their own software for iPhone. That solution was web apps in Safari. This didn’t go over very well with developers and users, but it led to some interesting new features getting added to the iPhone before the App Store was ultimately launched the following summer.

The Epic v. Apple trial has now officially been adjourned, but it brought several documents that revealed sensitive information about both companies. Interestingly, in one of the emails Steve Jobs sent back in 2007, it is confirmed that Apple was working on a 15-inch MacBook Air (which was never officially released), plus some more discussions about the App Store.

Apple has published a new press release on its Newsroom website today underscoring the economic impact of the App Store. Ahead of the Worldwide Developers Conference kicking off next week, Apple touts that developers grow total billings and sales in the App Store ecosystem by 24% to $643 billion in 2020.

An iOS app rating flaw lets developers create apps that cannot be opened until the user gives it a five-star review.

It’s the latest discovery by FlickType developer Kosta Eleftheriou, whose Twitter bio now describes him as “Professional AppStore critic.” Eleftheriou has indeed made a name for himself identifying high-profile scam apps that made it through app review, some of which have made millions of dollars for their developers …

Amid Epic Games’ intense lawsuit against Apple over how it runs the App Store, Snap’s CEO Evan Spiegel has shared the company’s positive perspective on Apple’s 30% commission and the new app tracking transparency feature that’s drawn the ire of Facebook and the ad industry.

As another chapter of the Apple vs. Epic Games trial unfolds today, head of App Store business development for gaming, Michael Schmid, said Apple generated more than $100 million in revenue from commission collected from offering Fortnite on the App Store.

The European Union is watching the Apple versus Epic Games trial closely, says the head of the EU’s competition watchdog, but its own investigations will proceed regardless of the outcome.

European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said that both of the EU’s antitrust investigations into Apple were progressing …

Apple Fellow Phil Schiller officially took the stand today in Apple’s legal battle against Epic Games. The Apple veteran focused heavily on the early days of the App Store, but also provided some interesting tidbits on what it costs to run WWDC, a new developer center coming to Apple Park, and more.

Last month we learned that Apple had approved the latest update that Parler had submitted, giving the green light to allow the social media platform back on the App Store. However, Parler hadn’t released the update and the app wasn’t available – until today. Here’s how Parler was able to “address Apple’s concerns without compromising” its “core mission.”

Amid growing scrutiny of the App Store and the prevalence of scam and rip-off applications, Apple has published a new press release today highlighting the measures it takes to protect users. In the press release, Apple claims that the App Store stopped more than $1.5 billion in “potentially fraudulent transactions in 2020.

Apple also says it recently deployed new tools to combat fake reviews on the App Store.

The Epic vs. Apple court case started on May 3. As it still has two more weeks to go, here’s what we’ve learned this week with the trial.

As the Epic court case goes on, we have been learning more details about internal discussions within Apple business. With the testimony of Trystan Kosmynka, one of the heads of the App Store, on Friday, we have been able to discover more about the App Store numbers, and we can say that the iPhone App Store is Apple’s only big hit. Here’s why.