Until recently, Apple prevented Spotify from telling users about cheaper options (like by subscribing via the service’s website).Ī report from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) highlighted concerns that the tech giants are creating barriers to innovation and competition. They have to pay 15% or 30% of the revenues they make via the Apple store to Apple, their rival, which operates the store platform. The European Commission told Apple it had abused its position and distorted competition in the music streaming industry and its restrictions on app developers prevent them telling users about cheaper alternative apps.įor instance, when Apple builds a music app, rivals such as Spotify argue this is unfair. ![]() In 2021 a group of UK-based developers filed a £1.5 billion collective action suit against Apple over its store fees. Some apps take much longer than this to develop. It can take between three and nine months to develop one app and can cost between US$40,000 and US$300,000 to build a minimum viable product. Shortly afterwards Apple apparently told the developer that keyboards for the Apple Watch were not allowed, they announced the feature themselves. ShutterstockįlickType was developed as a third-party keyboard for iPhones and Apple Watches in 2019. Making money from developing a mobile app is not as easy you may think. App stores set the rules on privacy, security and even what types of apps can be made. Epic Games has filed a similar case against Google, which is set to go to trial in 2023. But both halved it for most independent app developers and small businesses after lawsuits such as in 2020 when video games company Epic Games claimed Apple has an illegal monopoly of the market.Įpic Games lost but Apple was subject to App stores changes that are on hold. Until recently, Apple and Google’s stores charged a 30% commission fee. On Apple’s iPhone and iPad platforms, the App Store is the only way to distribute apps. Developers have to jostle for attention among the almost 3 million apps and games on Google Play and 2 million apps on the Apple store. A 2021 study showed just 0.5% of consumer apps succeed commercially. The Angry Birds game became a worldwide phenomenon within weeks when it launched in 2009 and made US$10 million (£8 million) in its first year.īut, overall, the numbers make it clear that mobile apps don’t guarantee wealth. Every budding developer dreams of creating an app that goes viral and makes lots of money overnight. New rules on mobile app stores could trigger a wave of creative, cheaper apps with more privacy options for users.
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