Apple's “clarifications” as part of its settlement will not make much of a difference in the long run for developers or to how the App Store actually works

The Verge 2021-08-30 Chaim Gartenberg

Context & Ripple Effects

The clarifications are Apple tidying up the terms of its $100M small-developer settlement: developers can use contact information gathered inside their iOS apps to tell users about alternative payment options, but still cannot put that information inside the app itself, and the commission structure stays untouched.

Read alongside the rest of the coverage, the pattern is consistent: an Epic trial Bloomberg expected Apple to win pushed Apple toward developer-friendly gestures rather than structural change, and within days of this settlement Apple's updated rules allowing web signup links were scoped so narrowly they mainly cover low-margin subscription apps like Netflix and Spotify. The through-line goes back further too — Apple's 2020 move to add guideline-violation appeals followed the same template of process concessions over economic ones.

First-order effects

Developers covered by the settlement gain only a narrow communications channel — contact info harvested from the app can be used for external payment pitches — while Apple keeps the in-app prohibition and its commission on every transaction that remains.

Second-order effects

High-profile subscription services like Netflix and Spotify get a carve-out via the web signup link rules, but most paid-app and IAP developers see no equivalent relief, leaving the App Store's revenue mechanics intact for Apple's core base of profitable apps.

Third-order effects

If the pattern holds — litigation pressure answered with process tweaks and tightly scoped exceptions — the App Store's core economics survive each challenge, and future pressure shifts from courtrooms to regulators seeking rules Apple cannot clarify away.

The trend: Under legal pressure, Apple is conceding process-level App Store changes while defending its commission structure, making regulatory intervention the likelier path to structural change.

Discussion

@spotifynews @spotifynews on x
Apple's recent “changes” do not address any of the core concerns Spotify and many others have with Apple. @horaciog explains why. #TimeToPlayFair https://twitter.com/...
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
@ItWertt @forwardisfree Apple's punishing Epic and all of our customers for a decision Epic made to challenge their in-app payments and store monopoly. Apple didn't have to block Fortnite; they could have asked the court to stop us. Instead they blocked Fortnite and we're asking …
@dimitribouniol Dimitri Bouniol on x
@stroughtonsmith 😔 The amount of friction we have as Apple platform developers (both in terms of developer relations and resources) far surpasses what the most profitable and mature platforms should have. It really is a shame apple doesn't realize the amount of built-up goodwill …
@jamesthomson James Thomson on x
@tapbot_paul I didn't previously think the Small Business thing _had_ an expiration date, and now it feels a bit like “nice discounted rate you've got there, would be a shame if something happened to it”.
@tpoholmes Tim Holmes on x
@ChronRevisited @ashleygjovik The falsity of the idea that yen issue is pockets of bad staff is laid bare in the reports of gaslighting and enabling by @Apple ER itself, from not one, but many people. It's systemic. It's NOT “he said, she said”, it's “what the hell is Apple ER do…
@parrots Curtis Herbert on x
I've never gotten more than like $10 from one, and here I stand to get $30,000 from this one. Even the lowest end payout is $250. The other aspects of the suit don't yield much, but yeah this is surprisingly real money for a class action. https://twitter.com/...
@matt1corey Matt Corey on x
@parrots As class action suits go, I've never seen one so impactful to the ‘claimants’. Most result in about a $1.73 benefit to the consumer, while the lawyers get millions - they've become a meaningless money machine. This one will have a material impact to thousands of develope…
@reneritchie Rene Ritchie on x
7/ Review systems at massive scale are hugely problematic. App Store/ YouTube have very similar issues of live scams and bogus rejections. Tech needs constant improvement, but the psychology/human cost needs specific care, intervention, outreach, support https://www.youtube.com/.…
@parrots Curtis Herbert on x
People are mad the PR spin from Apple paints it in a good light when the concessions are minimal. They gave a centimeter, paint it as a mile. But that is what PR does. Why was the suit accepted as settled with such minimal concessions? That's the root anger, I think. https://twit…
@keleftheriou Kosta Eleftheriou on x
Apple: “We are now allowing you to contact your own customers as you see fit. Isn't that wonderful? WE THINK YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE IT!”🙏
@marcoarment Marco Arment on x
Sounds about right, with one exception: Apple will never stop fighting with app developers. https://twitter.com/...
@danielpunkass Daniel Jalkut on x
🚨 Alarms should be going off at Apple Park because Cabel and @panic are among the most taciturn and willing to compromise of Apple's developer base. If Apple loses folks like Cabel, they lose everything important. 🚨 https://twitter.com/...
@reneritchie Rene Ritchie on x
1/ A lot of App Store coverage has become clout-chasing rage-bait. You can pretty much ignore anything with “innovation” “job creation” “tax” “rent” “monopoly” “lock-in” etc. because there are real dev/user trade-offs and harm across multiple vectors. https://www.youtube.com/...
@reneritchie Rene Ritchie on x
8/ Error rates are actually pretty low, but at that enormous scale, any error is still an enormous cost in terms of people and business, but there's way more that can and should be done to soften the fall here as well through targeting “Dev/creator sat” https://www.youtube.com/..…
@drbarnard David Barnard on x
@rjonesy ... I still want to read the details, but $20k-60k is way too much money for me to turn down. According to your reading of it, we'll be getting back 10-30% of what we paid Apple. Hard to see a much better financial outcome.
@oliverjhaslam Oliver Haslam on x
Apple is making a habit of dropping media briefings with a couple hours notice. In this case it was very much to put pressure on writers to get news out before it could be dug into. I've no doubt about it. Apple PR works for Apple, not us. https://twitter.com/...
@tapbot_paul Paul Haddad on x
It's not much, but at least 15% has to stick around for a few years and maybe some “free” money?
@parrots Curtis Herbert on x
Bingo. Curation at scale is *hard* (as Rene says, YouTube / TikTok / all other curation platforms struggle here), and a platform owner should *overcompensate* their helpful and respective attitude to make up for the inherit difficulties. https://twitter.com/...
@danielpunkass Daniel Jalkut on x
The sheer amount of developer goodwill @apple has burned over the past 10 years. While companies like @microsoft are actively cultivating it. It's a real problem even if nobody in power at Apple can see it.
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
The nine most dangerous words in the English language are “I'm from the Apple app review team and I'm here to help.” https://twitter.com/...
@nytimesbusiness @nytimesbusiness on x
Apple and the people who sued it for abusing its control of the mobile-app market reached a deal that they claim as a major concession from Apple. Yet some of Apple's critics called it a “sham” that did little to change Apple's control over apps. https://t.co/...
@ilicco @ilicco on x
So just to clarify, the complaint was about Apple taking 30% of app revenue as payment... and the result is lawyers took 30% of the fund Apple are giving to small app developers when they usually only get 25%. Too funny. https://twitter.com/...
@rjonesy Ryan Jones on x
23. Ah, this letter explains everything: - Apple was gonna win - so getting anything is a win for the dev - and Apple just wants it over - so here's the min. possible money and “change” Dev gets to show big number and “change”. Apple gets to stop publicly fighting their devs. htt…
@macton93 Michael Acton on x
To put this #Apple settlement in perspective: $100 million is roughly the amount that Apple made off @EpicNewsroom's Fortnite game *alone* while it was on the store. Peanuts. https://twitter.com/...
@macton93 Michael Acton on x
True that #Apple is offering some concessions, but none of them go to the heart of the antitrust dispute (regardless of which side of it you are on). App Store still only store on iOS, steering customers in-app still banned, IAP still mandatory. https://twitter.com/...
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
Here's @cgartenberg laying it out: https://www.theverge.com/...
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
People keep tweeting this thread with “Apple needs to fix this” and.... no, they don't *need* to do anything. That's what lock-in and monopolies allow for! If anyone could compete for these developers Apple would have an actual incentive to change. https://twitter.com/...
@martinsfp Martin Sfp Bryant on x
“Apple isn't changing how the App Store works because Apple doesn't want it to change” https://www.theverge.com/...
@marcoarment Marco Arment on x
Also worth noting that Apple-platform developers are not a unified or organized group in any way. “Developers” didn't sue. Apple didn't make a deal with “developers”. Some people sued, and Apple made a deal with them. Most developers were uninvolved, unaware, and unrepresented.

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