Apple is facing severe opposition from developers over the App Store fees. The Epic Vs. Apple’s battle further bought the issue to the forefront. The disgruntled developer community had pinned their hopes on Arizona House Bill 2005 to allow alternate payment methods on Android and iOS.

The Arizona House Bill 2005 hit the headlines last month after a victory in the Arizona House of Representatives. In other words, the bill could have turned into law after a scheduled vote. As per the schedule, the bill was the first item to be discussed. However, it was never mentioned in the entire session. According to the sponsor, the bill was pulled out at the last minute and will only be discussed next year.

The bill is being pushed by Coalition for App Fairness, a group lead by Epic Games and Fortnite. The CAF says they are fighting against app store monopolies and is currently lobbying state legislatures to introduce a bill similar to the Arizona bill. A majority of these bills are aimed at bypassing Apple and Google’s 30 percent app store commission. Some of the bills are aimed at allowing Apple to introduce an alternative App Store in its ecosystem.

In 2020 Apple users have spent an estimated $64 billion on in-app purchases and subscriptions. Needless to say, Apple rakes in billions of revenue from the App Store. The company is said to have “hired every lobbyist in town” and flipped the votes. In other words, there was not enough support for the bill.

Our Take

Apple says the App Store fees are fair and are an industry-standard for long. To show solidarity with small developers, Apple reduced App Store fees to 15%. They also showcased a bunch of developers who seemed happy with the reduced App Store fee. It would be interesting to see whether any of the bills introduced by CAF will turn into a law.

Do you feel it is fair for Apple to charge an App Store fee? Share your thoughts in the comments below.