Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Apple App Store commissions
I just read this , interesting that people are fighting back in light of the recent discussions about affiliate links being taken away:
https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/22/apple-app-store-commission-revenue/
Comments
Seriously, why use AppleTax IAPs to subscribe to Netflix or Spotify in the first place?!
(I registered both Spotify and Netflix on the web long before IAPs even were a thing and it still just works and I have full control over my subscriptions and can use 'gift cards' and even take advantage of 'free promos' from time to time from my cell operator etc. etc.).
I don’t subscribe to those through Apple either, but the part that I thought was relevant is that it sounds like some developers are starting to fight back. A fairer system to everyone would provide sustainability, at least I think so.
I think it is more likely that Apple is "fighting back". For example, if last month Apple heard that Netflix might be dropping in-app subscriptions, they know this would be a big loss of AppStore profit, and maybe thats why Apple decided to drop affiliate commissions.
Its not like Netflix or bigger developers were hurt in any way by the loss of affiliate commissions. I think Netflix are just finally doing the smart thing. There's no way it is worth it for Netflix to let Apple take 30% just to manage subscription payments. I suppose at the beginning they thought "hey lets see if iOS makes it easier for people to join Netflix. If enough people join, it might offset the 30% Apple takes." A few years later now, its obviously not paying off for Netflix.
What goes around, comes around:
https://bgr.com/2018/08/22/netflix-vs-apple-subscription-payment-plan/
Apple's cut of 30% really came from the iTunes Music store. Where they were micro transactions of $0.99 - and honestly, it made sense. Visa takes 1.51% and $0.10 per transaction - on $0.99, that's $0.875 grossed by Apple, and then there are admin, customer support, and hosting fees.. even the sale of gift cards at retail shops directly effects their bottom line (production, management, retail store cut, retail store shelf stocking fees, discounts on gift cards at Costco). You can see how tight those margins really are for Apple, even at 30%.
Fast forward to the App Store: apps were free or $0.99 - similar to the iTunes Music Store. Back then, it was still a tight business for Apple. BlackBerry actually couldn't turn a profit from the App Store, at 30% or their reduced 25%. But then... apps started to get more expensive; and the transaction fee remains "mostly" constant. And now, some apps can generate over $100/year from a single subscriber, every year: think Netflix, Spotify, Dropbox. Taking a 30% cut is massive and extremely profitable now.
You can argue that movies, music and other entertainment items, that are expensive, also get dinged 30%. And that's 100% true. However, unlike developers, there are no hosting fees, no developer fees to update an app to use the latest features or at the very least not have it break with the new OS (iOS 12 is riddled with changes...), and they can rely almost exclusively on Apple's customer support to handle any problems. For them, it's publish and forget; and can publish across multiple platforms, have licensing deals, etc.
Developers don't have those privileges.
In fairness, Apple does provide developers with a great App Store experience that customers come to rely as trustworthy, and does increase volume - which is why we've seen app prices plummet the last decade. However, the continued take of 30% remains too high, esp as app prices (and development costs) are growing, and apps are no longer single function applications from the original iPhone.
I would like to see the developer cut go from 30% to 15%. Keep in mind, that 15% back doesn't amount to a 15% increase in revenue, but actually about a ~21.4% increase (going from 7k to 8.5k). Imagine what developers can do with that unlocked revenue..
Great point @baldajan !
I was looking at the pricing Matrix on the Apple Developers site this week and in the UK, Apple takes a 42% cut of app price. Something to do with additional taxes.
42%
That’s fkn crazy!
Oh, they want the app developers pay for the EU taxes. There is a 13bn tax ruling,...
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/05/ireland-reaches-deal-with-apple-to-collect-13bn-in-back-taxes
Apple is a very funny corporation.
@Looping_Loddar I don’t know the full story.. but... to defend Apple (a bit). As a Canadian company, when Apple takes there commission for sales made in Canada, they need to charge Canadian developers a sales tax on that commission (13% in Ontario and most of Canada). As a company, we can get that sales tax refunded from the government, but you can’t as an individual.
So Apple decided, rather than charge sales tax on top of their 30% commission (for revenues made in Canada for Canadian developers only), they’ll bake it into the commission. And when the sales tax is refunded, the commission amount is works out to be 25%.
To balance it out... in Japan, we had to pay Apple’s 30% commission + 20% for a Japan tax (so we only saw half our sales at the end of the day). I had to fill out some forms, and send them to Apple’s finance department to be sent to Japan, and got the Japan tax lowered to 10% on all sales made in Japan. Luckily, I was also able to get a refund on half of all tax paid to Japan for the past 5 years (Apple really helped here.)
Thank you very much for your answer! I still don't see a justification for a 42% cut of app price beside greed.