Almost No Developers Accept Apple's External Payment Option Due to High Commission Fees

In January, Apple announced that it would open up the App Store's external payment functionality, allowing developers to apply for an alternative payment method that bypasses the In-App Purchase (IAP) protocol. However, this move was not voluntary, but rather a result of a US Supreme Court ruling that required Apple to comply with a lower court's decision, allowing developers to guide users to make payments through other means.

As expected, Apple did not take this lying down. Just like when the EU forced Apple to open up to alternative app stores and sideloading, Apple imposed numerous requirements on developers, including a €0.50 core technology fee per installation.

Regarding external payments, Apple provides eligible developers with an external payment option, which requires developers to apply and obtain approval before implementing it.

In terms of fees, small and medium-sized developers still need to pay Apple a 12% technical service fee, even if they use an external payment channel. Large developers, on the other hand, need to pay a 27% technical service fee.

Currently, Apple's preferential policy for small developers is a 15% commission on in-app purchases, while large developers do not have a preferential policy, resulting in a 30% commission. Apple's external payment option only reduces the fee by 3%.

In this scenario, developers still need to pay processing fees to external channels, which may not only fail to save money but also result in higher fees overall. As a result, very few developers have opted for the external payment option.

Recently, Apple revealed that around 65,000 developers/merchants are eligible to apply for the external payment option, but only 38 developers have applied and added the external payment feature, while the remaining 60,000+ developers/merchants continue to use the IAP in-app purchase mechanism.

This situation highlights that any improvements made by Apple under duress, without clear court-mandated regulations on fees and costs, will be met with attempts to increase barriers, making the external payment option virtually useless.