On Thursday night, Apple announced an agreement with developers involved in a class-action lawsuit that involved several changes to the App Store. As part of the agreement, which still needs to be approved by a judge, Apple has made several concessions that will change the way developers can sell subscriptions and in-app purchases, including allowing developers to promote outside payment options free of Apple’s fees in correspondence with customers.
However, not all developers are happy with the moves. As part of the agreement, Apple also said it will be keeping the App Store terms the same for the next three years, which means Apple’s 30-percent cut for developers making over a million dollars a year stays in place. It’s also not allowing developers to offer alternative payment methods inside apps. Here’s what developers had to say after Apple announced the agreement:
An agreement for one
Overcast developer Marco Arment has been one of the most vocal critics of Apple’s App Store terms over the years and he doesn’t think Apple is giving anything to developers in this agreement.
Smoke and mirrors
Developer Ryan Jones pored over the terms of the agreement and concluded that Apple didn’t really change much, despite headlines to the contrary.
A different perspective
Tweetbot developer Paul Hadad put the agreement in terms we can all understand.
Spin doctors
David Barnard called the positive coverage of the agreement “PR spin.”
Missing the point
New York Times Silicon Valley reporter Jack Nicas agrees that very little has changed for Apple’s developers as part of this agreement.
The fight continues
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney vows to continue fighting Apple’s App Store terms—which probably means Fortnite isn’t returning anytime soon.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.