Hidden costs in the App Store: this is how Apple wants to outsmart the new EU guidelines

Did you buy this newspaper at the newsstand? If that is the case, the kiosk earned about two francs from it: more than a third of the retail price. It is the contribution we pay so that the kiosk publishes the newspapers and an employee takes care of the sales. Work wants to be paid.

If you read this article on the iPhone and have taken out a digital subscription through our app on the device, Apple will earn almost a third of the total amount – then another 15 percent in the second year. The same as at the kiosk, although payment processing is much simpler here; After all, no employee has to type every newspaper.

That’s daring. Or it was. Under pressure from various developers and the EU, Apple has now reduced prices to 17 and 10 percent respectively. A nice concession? Only at first glance. Because you will now have to pay another 3 percent to use Apple’s payment service. And for every installed app, even if it is free, there is a so-called ‘core technology fee’ of 50 cents per year. This will be charged from 1 million downloads. Spotify and ‘Fortnite’ manufacturer Epic have already announced it loudly. This is “blackmail”.

This will probably be more expensive in many cases for large tech companies, but they can at least go back to the old model. But it could actually have some benefits for us and other media companies. Unless there are other hidden costs. (aargauerzeitung.ch)