Apple just announced a important new stage within the App Store, after maintaining a agreement with US developers. The agreed changes have yet to be ratified by the courts, but they will put an end to the class action lawsuit filed a couple of years ago by US developers and is being handled by the same judge who is handling Epic’s case against Apple.
The agreements reached prioritize seven key points where the App Store user will continue to be protected and developers will be helped
The company and said collective of developers have worked together to agree on a solution that allows us to offer more business opportunities but also to maintain security and trust of users in the popular App Store. The most important points of the agreement are to allow developers to inform about other purchase options outside of their app for iOS, expanding the price levels that they can offer for subscriptions, purchases within apps and paid apps. The company will also create a new fund to help developers (from USA) that meet certain requirements. All agreements apply to developers of all App Store throughout the world (pay commission or not), except for this last point of the aid fund which is exclusively for US developers.
In the words of Phill schiller, the head of the App Store and Apple Events, “the App Store has been an economic miracle; It is the safest and most trusted place for users to download apps, and it is an incredible business opportunity for developers to innovate, prosper and grow.“. He also reiterates the thanks to get to this agreement “We want to thank the developers who have worked with us to reach these agreements in line with the goals of the App Store and that benefit all users.“
More flexibility and resources for developers, more transparency for Apple
The terms of the agreement they have been negotiated in what the company refers to as a “productive dialogue” between Apple and the plaintiffs in the case. The seven priorities Identified shared between both parties and sent to the judge presiding over the case for approval, are the following:
- Apple and developers agree maintain the App Store Small Business Program with its current structure for at least the next three years. This program began operating in November 2020 and helps small businesses with annual revenues of up to $ 1 million to benefit from a commission reduced to 15% on all transactions.
- At the request of the developers, Apple agrees that the search results continue to be based on objective data like downloads, star ratings, text relevance and user engagement – just the way it works now – and it will keep you going for at least the next three years.
- Apple clarifies that extra communications to inform your customers of other payment methods outside of its iOS app, as long as users give their permission to receive these communications and Apple does not receive any commission for payment methods outside the App Store.
- Manzana will increase to 500 price levels that developers can offer for subscriptions, in-app purchases and paid apps – and will still be able to choose the price they see fit themselves. Currently, there are 100 price levels.
- Apple maintains the option for developers to appeal the rejection of an app if they perceive unfair treatment, which in the past has served to clarify terms between both parties or avoid confusion. The company is also committed to further clarifying the concepts of app review on its website to facilitate developers how the appeal process works.
- Apple agrees to create a annual transparency report with data that will include significant statistics on the app review process: number of apps rejected for various reasons, number of deactivated customer and developer accounts, objective data on searches and their results, and number of apps removed from the App Store.
- Apple will create a economic fund to also help small developers (only in USA). To be eligible for it, developers must have entered a maximum of $ 1 million in the US store in all their apps during each of the years in which they had an account between June 4, 2015 and December 31, 2020 – covering 99% of US developers. More specific details will be released later. At the moment, the measure is not intended to expand to other countries, but Apple could consider it in the future.
The agreements reached (except the financial aid fund that is exclusively for the United States at the moment) will be applied worldwide when the agreements are ratified by the judge.
As we have been able to ask Apple, the approval of these agreements It is preliminarily expected for mid-October 2021 and the final decision of the judge handling the case could arrive in early March 2022.
Images | James Yarema, Maxwell Nelson and Christina