What you need to know
- Apple recently announced its planned rate of commission for alternative in-app payments for dating apps in the Netherlands.
- Apple will charge 27% instead of 30% for payments processed using an alernative method.
- One popular high-profile developer has slammed the proposal as "absolutely vile."
Popular Apple developer Steve Troughton-Smith has slammed Apple's plans to charge 27% commission on alternative in-app payments in the Netherlands as "absolutely vile."
Troughton-Smith took to Twitter Friday to address the emerging news that Apple will charge a slightly-reduced rate for purchases of digital goods and service for dating apps in the Netherlands, and did not mince words:
Absolutely vile. This says everything about @tim_cook's Apple and what it thinks of developers. I hope the company gets exactly what it deserves. Everybody on their executive team should be ashamed, and some of them should not be here when it's all over. We all see you
Absolutely vile. This says everything about @tim_cook’s Apple and what it thinks of developers. I hope the company gets exactly what it deserves. Everybody on their executive team should be ashamed, and some of them should not be here when it’s all over. We all see you https://t.co/cLOAqWXnU5Absolutely vile. This says everything about @tim_cook’s Apple and what it thinks of developers. I hope the company gets exactly what it deserves. Everybody on their executive team should be ashamed, and some of them should not be here when it’s all over. We all see you https://t.co/cLOAqWXnU5— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) February 4, 2022February 4, 2022
As reported earlier today, Apple has told developers of dating apps in the Netherlands that anyone using an alternative method of payment outside of Apple's in-app purchase method will be charged 27% commission instead of 30%. The company says the slightly reduced rate "excludes value related to payment processing and related activities", essentially the legwork Apple does to facilitate the payment. Apple's documentation states
Apple has previously stated that it would still have to find a way to collect commission on alternative payment methods hosted on the App Store, and developers that take advantage in the Netherlands will have to disclose to Apple a monthly record of sales of digital goods and services, upon which the company will invoice them for the commission as stated.
Given that much of the arguments in favor of using alternative payments have cited money as a factor, it is unlikely that Troughton-Smith is alone in thinking that the newly-disclosed rate is unfavorable.
