Christoph Wimberger
Steve Troughton-SmithIf Apple isn't stopped, there will come a point where Apple slaps a 30% tax on all VISA transactions made on iOS (unless you use Apple Pay, of course!)
Benjamin Schmidt@stroughtonsmith if they could they already would have but fortunately that is illegal in many places, including EU.
David@stroughtonsmith Apple is crying out for help from the US Dept of Justice.
John Gruber@stroughtonsmith Meaning in Safari? That’s silly.
There’s so much about Apple’s expansive view of the App Store to disagree with, but they’ve been remarkably consistent. Digital content sold through native apps. They’re happy to keep their hands off the web and they’ve never even hinted at wanting any cut of payments for non-digital goods or services.
poswald@gruber @stroughtonsmith I don't fully agree with Steve here that they are driving toward that point. But when I want to pay a guy monthly to make art or music, I don't see how that isn't non-digital services. I literally pay a creator monthly who makes theatre plays that I have then gone to see in person. Is that a digital good? For me, they are crossing into demanding payment for non-digital goods because the payment was set up using an iPhone app
Jacob@poswald it’s very common for Patreon creators to have some exclusive digital good as a tier perk.
Julien Silland@gruber @stroughtonsmith so, the correct way to dodge the Apple tax is to go back to distributing content through CDs?
Got it, makes sense.
@gruber consistent at tightening the screws, maybe! I don't see an end to their greed, not with the current people in charge. They will push every last cent they can until the law tells them to stop
Steve Riggins@stroughtonsmith @gruber So you are saying that they will raise the App Store fee to 50%, for example? That would be an easy way to get more money.
@steveriggins @gruber the Core Technology Fee raises the cost of being in the App Store to orders of magnitude over 100%, depending on your app price and whether you qualify as a charity or not
Jorge Salvador Caffarena@stroughtonsmith @gruber calling Apple App Store “remarkably consistent” given the recents months/years developments made me laugh out loud
Eelco Lempsink@gruber @stroughtonsmith How is Patreon “digital content” though? Sure that is the end result in some cases, but it’s generally more akin to Kickstarter? Also some have nothing to do with digital content, e.g., https://www.patreon.com/dnalounge
Ville Turpeinen@gruber @stroughtonsmith there are still lots of apps that are linking to external purchase flows for digital content, like podcasting apps. I wonder if Apple will want to enforce their scare sheet API and 30% commission to these at some point.
Dan Wineman@gruber @stroughtonsmith Here are some examples of rewards I get from my Patreon memberships:
• Discounts when purchasing items from other websites
• Access to send in questions that might be read in a future podcast interview
• Print editions of mini-comics
• “Feelies” (physical souvenirs to accompany digital media, sent by mail)
• My name in the credits of a YouTube video
• Nothing at all
In what world is any of this governed by “digital content”?
@dwineman @stroughtonsmith None of this makes sense, which I suspect is why Patreon was allowed to exist in an unofficial gray zone for so long.
@gruber @stroughtonsmith It makes sense from one perspective: extortion. Patreon would never have entered the app store in the first place under these terms, but now that they’re established and it’s much harder for them to leave, Apple feels free to alter the bargain.
It’s not inconsistency or caprice; it’s the deliberate fattening and slaughter of a competing business. Mafia shit. And with the Google money going away soon, we will see more of it.