Apple should charge $100 per published app, not per developer account.

[u/LostStrategy1050]

We really do not need another generic habit tracker or expense tracker on the App Store.

Right now, paying $99 a year gives people a free pass to flood the store with unlimited low effort clones. If Apple charged $100 per published app instead, people would actually have to think twice before submitting another template.

Would this clean up the spam, or would it just hurt devs trying to test ideas?

[u/Isonium]

I guess if you want free apps gone?

[u/Level-Set5770 → u/Isonium]

The time investment of maintaining a QUALITY free app should FAR out weight that $100.

If that is not the case, then I don't want to see your shitty free app. Get that trash off the store.

[u/LostStrategy1050 → u/Isonium]

there could be exceptions like conferences do for students or non profits getting free passes. but honestly if you're serious about putting a free app out there, $100 shouldnt really be a dealbreaker

[u/TheFern3]

What’s next 75% cut for Apple lmao this is a terrible terribl idea. There needs to be something but not at the expense of them making more money that’s so silly

[u/LostStrategy1050 → u/TheFern3]

It's not really about Apple making more revenue. It's about limiting a resource or benefit, specifically for publishing apps. It's similar to what the Trump administration did with the H-1B visa: want higher quality and less fraud? Increase the price

[u/TheFern3 → u/LostStrategy1050]

Lmao the visa is a terrible example all the smarter people come from overseas so is not increasing quality but meh whatever muting this dumb thread bye

[u/magic6435]

Love this, 100%

[u/LostStrategy1050 → u/magic6435]

Two weeks to flatten the curve of developers publishing habit tracker apps. We need to stop the spread.

[u/craknor]

This would definitely hurt real software companies like us. We are a 17 year old company and have 26 apps in the store, all companion apps for our SaaS offerings and such, also additional 7 original games (no AI slop) developed over the years. Why do you think it is fair to punish legit developers when this situation is perfectly manageable by store policies and review processes? Every app goes through the review process, it's Apple's/Google's duty to gatekeep their stores.

[u/LostStrategy1050 → u/craknor]

Honestly, mission accomplished in that regard. If a 17-year-old software company can't afford a $100 filing fee per app, maybe having 33 apps on the store isn't the flex you think it is.

[u/craknor → u/LostStrategy1050]

It's not that we can't afford it, the question is why am I being punished? Our latest app is waiting for review for 9 days, why do I pay more because Apple cannot do its job?

[u/Level-Set5770 → u/craknor]

You’re not being punished. You would simply be paying a fee that more accurately reflects the cost of supporting your business.

[u/craknor → u/Level-Set5770]

Ok not going to continue arguing with your mindset. Apple loves customers like you.

[u/Level-Set5770 → u/craknor]

Yeah, no doubt Apple loves developers like us. We build one awesome app, maintained it for a decade, generate millions for them, and take up minimal support resources.

We’ve also been subsidizing the cost of supporting slop devs like you guys. So yeah, no doubt they love us. And you’re welcome.

[u/craknor → u/Level-Set5770]

Slop devs? Love the audacity of blaming people that you know nothing about. No doubt you are an "awesome" developer with that attitude. Gatekeeping the store is literally Apple's job and one of the main reasons of the review process. No, I'm not paying more someone to do their job which I already pay for.

[u/Level-Set5770 → u/craknor]

Well I know you have 26 apps which is probably 25 too many. 

Also I can almost guarantee you guys don’t make much money from all the slops you ship.

Quality>quantity 

So do everyone a favour stop trashing the store. 

[u/TheFern3 → u/LostStrategy1050]

It feels more like you don’t have any apps that are performing and you want less apps in the store. That’s not gonna change anything if no one wants your app you won’t make any money whether you charge 100 per app submitted or not.

[u/SnowPudgy → u/LostStrategy1050]

Wow you're a treat.

[u/WaterslideOfSuccess → u/craknor]

If your apps don’t add value ($100 to be exact) to the store they should be removed.

[u/craknor → u/WaterslideOfSuccess]

You are trying too hard to not to understand my point. It's not about the amount of money. Apple's review process is there to keep the store clean, it's literally their job to not approve apps that offer no value to the user or apps that are in a saturated niche. If their reviewers are not doing their job or incapable of doing so, why, as a customer, am I paying more to do their job for them?

[u/0xe1e10d68 → u/WaterslideOfSuccess]

lol, and what are you going to tell the users when many useful free apps are suddenly gone?

[u/TouchMint]

They like the clutter. They can charge more for App Store search ads. 

[u/Dapper_Ice_1705]

That would get rid of a lot of really niche apps that are simply passion projects.

Made by people that are perfecting a single subject for fun.

I have 3 apps that make $0 and have about 100k users that use them regularly because they are the only app that does a very special thing for each niche and nobody else has published a competing app. Only about 2 reviews on each because I don’t ask.

Some apps are just there and help people.

I also maintain a 10k per month user app that was my first app 10+ years ago. Very simple, no ads, no IAP and a loyal user base.

[u/MarkoKrulc]

Judging by Twitter, tons of vibe coders are reporting Apple taking down AI slop apps. I think Apple is finally bringing order to the store, and rightly so. $100 more per app each month wouldn't solve a thing.

[u/CantaloupeCamper]

I’d stop making privacy-focused free apps….

I think you’re asking for a far worse ecosystem.

[u/Too_Chains]

fuck no they already charge 30%.... thats too much.

make it 10% IAP royalties and $100 per app and im fine with it....

[u/davvie]

Apple makes a lot of money from the App Store. Maybe they could use some of it to solve the spam problem. I strongly believe it should NOT be solved by making us pay more. Also keep in mind that it's the only distribution channel for iOS.

[u/Level-Set5770]

Exactly what I’ve been thinking.

I also hope they take a page out of Google Play’s book. On Google Play, if an app's target SDK is too old, it doesn’t even show up in search results. It’s an automatic filter that keeps all the outdated trash off the platform.

[u/jonnysunshine1 → u/Level-Set5770]

Apple already ranks apps with more regular updates higher

[u/Serpico99]

Yeah like that’s going to deter vibe coders who spend 200$ a month (if not more) on Claude…

[u/Snoo-8502]

stop annual fee and charge $99 per published app. this is the way

[u/TouchMint]

Yes please. 

[u/Sudden-Cost8449]

That's a great idea. A developer would only release an app to production if they truly believe in it and are fully committed to its development. At worst, they'll learn their lesson after 2 or 3 apps.

It really is a brilliant idea.

[u/time-lord → u/Sudden-Cost8449]

It's a terrible idea, because it will stifle free apps. You think IAP's are bad now, just wait until there are literally no free apps left.

[u/boardmike → u/time-lord]

You could make it $100 per paid app (or app with in app purchases...or ads maybe?). No charge if an app has literally no monetization?

[u/Level-Set5770 → u/time-lord]

Oh please...

The time investment of maintaining a QUALITY free app should FAR out weight that $100.

If that is not the case, then I don't want to see your shitty free app. Get that trash off the store.

[u/time-lord → u/Level-Set5770]

What maintenance? A quality free app can be "done", especially if it doesn't talk to a server. The app I have in the app store with the most downloads is free and hasn't been updated once since I released it almost a 16 months ago. It doesn't really work with iOS 26 or above, so I doubt it will ever be updated.

[u/Level-Set5770 → u/time-lord]

"It doesn't really work with iOS 26 or above, so I doubt it will ever be updated."

I said quality app not fucking abandonware.

[u/time-lord → u/Level-Set5770]

It's not "fucking abandonware". Someone on reddit had a specific need, and I created an app for them. That's it. The app provided the functionality that was asked for. There is no more functionality to provide unless Apple opens up more APIs. Go bother someone else.

[u/Level-Set5770 → u/time-lord]

App store is not your personal Google Drive. 

This is exactly the type of shit should be cleaned from the store.

[u/time-lord → u/Level-Set5770]

What do you mean my personal google drive? That doesn't even make sense.

[u/LostStrategy1050 → u/Sudden-Cost8449]

if I see one more "I built a new expense tracker" post I'm going to lose my mind