Apple Loosens Core Technology Fee for Hobbyists and Small Developers
Apple Developer News, with an item from three weeks ago that I thought I’d already linked to but had not:
Today, we’re introducing two additional conditions in which the
CTF is not required:
First, no CTF is required if a developer has no revenue
whatsoever. This includes creating a free app without
monetization that is not related to revenue of any kind
(physical, digital, advertising, or otherwise). This condition
is intended to give students, hobbyists, and other
non-commercial developers an opportunity to create a popular app
without paying the CTF.
Second, small developers (less than €10 million in global annual
business revenue) that adopt the alternative business terms
receive a 3-year free on-ramp to the CTF to help them create
innovative apps and rapidly grow their business. Within this
3-year period, if a small developer that hasn’t previously
exceeded one million first annual installs crosses the threshold
for the first time, they won’t pay the CTF, even if they
continue to exceed one million first annual installs during that
time. If a small developer grows to earn global revenue between
€10 million and €50 million within the 3-year on-ramp period,
they’ll start to pay the CTF after one million first annual
installs up to a cap of €1 million per year.
The first item is simple. The second isn’t simple, but still makes the CTF far more palatable, and lower-risk, for small developers. But my main takeaway is that by all outward appearances, it seems like Apple’s DMA compliance plans are holding up, including the CTF. I find the European Commission utterly inscrutable, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes. But right now I think what we see from Apple regarding the DMA is what we’re going to get.
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Apple Developer News, with an item from three weeks ago that I thought I’d already linked to but had not:
Today, we’re introducing two additional conditions in which the
CTF is not required:
First, no CTF is required if a developer has no revenue
whatsoever. This includes creating a free app without
monetization that is not related to revenue of any kind
(physical, digital, advertising, or otherwise). This condition
is intended to give students, hobbyists, and other
non-commercial developers an opportunity to create a popular app
without paying the CTF.
Second, small developers (less than €10 million in global annual
business revenue) that adopt the alternative business terms
receive a 3-year free on-ramp to the CTF to help them create
innovative apps and rapidly grow their business. Within this
3-year period, if a small developer that hasn’t previously
exceeded one million first annual installs crosses the threshold
for the first time, they won’t pay the CTF, even if they
continue to exceed one million first annual installs during that
time. If a small developer grows to earn global revenue between
€10 million and €50 million within the 3-year on-ramp period,
they’ll start to pay the CTF after one million first annual
installs up to a cap of €1 million per year.
The first item is simple. The second isn’t simple, but still makes the CTF far more palatable, and lower-risk, for small developers. But my main takeaway is that by all outward appearances, it seems like Apple’s DMA compliance plans are holding up, including the CTF. I find the European Commission utterly inscrutable, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes. But right now I think what we see from Apple regarding the DMA is what we’re going to get.