Apple's App Store on iOS has generally been pretty successful, and last year's holiday season bore testimony to that. But while the company may have been celebrating those numbers, some developers feel like the App Store isn't the best environment for them. At least, that's the case made by a new group called The Developers Union.
Despite the name, this is an unofficial union meant to "bring developers and supporters together for better App Stores for all". At the time of writing, the group has just over 400 supporters including developers and non-developers, but Wired reports that the union hopes to reach 20,000 in early June, in time for Apple's WWDC.
In an open letter to Apple, the group starts by asking the company to allow every app on the platform to free trials before July 2019. The developers have called on the company to commit to this change in time for the tenth anniversary of the App Store, which happens in July of the current year. The group explains why free trials are so important:
Free trials are a great place to start and gather the momentum needed to create significant change. Trials allow developers to show users their creation and establish value. Before iOS, Mac developers relied heavily on free trials, and they were able to make a living while making great software.
Once that goal is achieved, the group will focus on what it considers a "more reasonable revenue cut" for developers. Apple currently takes 30% of the money spent by users on apps and in-app purchases, which is more than what Microsoft takes even before the new revenue share announced at this year's Build.
It's hard to predict if the company will cave to the requests of the group, even if it reaches its target number of members. If that does happen, the unofficial union says it will continue to strive for more "community-driven, developer-friendly changes" going forward.
Source: The Developers Union via VentureBeat
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