Tim BrayAug 12, 2024

This is gross, and further confirms Apple’s transition from innovation to rent-seeking, but there is a good solution: Stop having an app. Patreon would work just fine as a web site, no?

https://mas.to/@carnage4life/112950113668058280

#apple

Dare Obasanjo (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Apple has informed Patreon that it will be kicked out of the App Store unless it pays the 30% tax for all donations. Patreon has started a migration process that will take until November 2025 to transition all creators to the Apple billing system and making less money. https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/12/apple-says-patreon-must-switch-to-its-billing-system-or-risk-removal-from-app-store/

mas.to
Show threadjwzAug 12, 2024
@timbray Do not let Patreon off the hook on this. This is their decision.
Show threadJeff AtwoodAug 12, 2024
@jwz @timbray I can't see how "stop having an iOS app" is letting them off the hook?
Show threadjwzAug 12, 2024
@codinghorror @timbray Patreon decided that not having an iOS app was so unacceptable that they're fucking over their customers instead. This is as much Patreon behaving badly as it is Apple behaving badly.
Show threadJeff AtwoodAug 12, 2024
@jwz @timbray how many bigcos intentionally forgo an iOS app, though? Like who could you point to that has done this before?
Show threadjwzAug 12, 2024
@codinghorror Why should I give even a fractional fuck about that? Do I look like a VC or a Patreon board member to you?
Show threadJeff AtwoodAug 12, 2024
@jwz these large companies are herd animals. None of them want to be the first to do anything interesting or progressive, so there has to be a smaller new herd forming, somewhere. The best way to motivate them is to point to "you don't wanna be left behind like [other company], right?"
Show threadjwz
@codinghorror It is not my job to fix Patreon's business model.
Aug 12, 2024 at 7:31pmWeb
Show threadJeff AtwoodAug 12, 2024
@jwz true, but "you suck and should do what I want" is less effective than "well, the other guy is doing it a whole lot better than you" in my experience. I mean, best case, we get new Patreon competitors we can support, right? Choosing a 30% tax rate for everyone over simply having a website and not an app is kind of insane to me, but I don't know the numbers their iOS app produces..
Show threaddirbAug 12, 2024
@codinghorror @jwz
"Choosing a 30% tax rate for everyone over simply having a website and not an app"
I think that's just bad reporting by the techcrunch, the original patreon blog post makes it clear this only affects subscriptions through the iOS app, subscriptions done through the web or the android app will remain the same
Show threadjwzAug 12, 2024
@dirb @codinghorror That is not all they're doing. https://jwz.org/b/ykXg
Patreon screws me over, says a big Apple did it and ran away

Patreon has two billing models, monthly (bills on the first of the month, or whenever they get around to it) and daily (charges you the moment you sign up.) For several years now, they have been trying really hard to get creators to switch to daily billing whether they like it or not, with a series of intrusive nags and dark patterns. E.g., the "Settings" tab always has an "unread" alert on ...