App Store: Less than 0.1% of developers are opting for the external payment option

Following recent European Union legislation, Apple has finally allowed developers to integrate third-party payments on iOS via external linksalthough it established new rules and an additional fee.

However, as Apple itself stated during a lawsuit brought by Epic Games in the United States, the majority of major developers have not yet adopted this possibility.

It’s not just the big iOS app developers who are left out of this option: it seems that only 38 out of a total of 65,000 have shown interest in including external links for in-app purchases, Bloomberg reported.

One florin

The changes to Apple’s payment system were implemented following a 2021 court ruling.

This March, Epic Games, one of Cupertino’s main legal adversaries, criticized the iPhone company’s action as “a deception” and took the case back to court.

The changes, which took effect in January, require developers to get Apple’s approval before introducing alternative payment options and establish a commission of up to 27 percent.
Although they were designed to comply with a legal injunction that favored simplification and developer freedom, in practice, the new rules end up imposing additional costs and additional expenses to developers.

Currently, it seems that Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is particularly convinced of this situation.
During the latest hearing, he made this comment to Apple: “It seems to me that the goal of the transaction was to maintain the business model and revenues that you have had in the past,” as reported by Bloomberg.

More than before

Currently, it is more expensive to opt out of the App Store than to maintain the internal payment system.

In addition to Apple’s fee, developers must also consider payment processing costs, which could lead to a higher overall cost than in situations where you remain in the Cupertino ecosystem.
Apple charges a 27 percent commission to those who choose to use the external link program; however, when you add processing fees, the total exceeds 30 percentwhich is how much Apple charges when payments go through its App Store.

Finally, it should be noted that the distribution of applications on the App Store brings Apple over 200 billion dollars a year.