Apple App Store Price Hike Affects Android, 'Pokemon GO,' Other Apps In-App Purchases

Apple App Store's price hike sees its effects on apps, and in-app purchases as the company raised its tax changes among developers, resulting in more expensive payments, but it also affects Android for some reason. Apple's iOS and Google's Android are two different operating systems that operate from different companies, and surely, one would not affect the other in terms of policies and the like.

However, that is not the case now, as developers are also raising the prices for Android users despite having no changes in policy or pricing.

Apple App Store Price Hike Affects Android

Back in September, Apple announced a price hike for its App Store, and it takes effect today, October 5, where users will see changes in pricing for both the app and in-app purchases. It is an inevitable one for developers as they need to raise their prices for consumers to avoid any loss in revenue, but the surprising part here is that Android users also feel this change.

According to Eurogamer, "Pokemon GO's" Niantic already announced this price hike to all, but the company regarded that this is not only for the iOS platform but also for Android users.

It is important to note that Google did not announce any price change for its Play Store on Android, meaning that this move comes directly from developers.

Will This Be Seen Across More Apps?

It is both fair and unfair for users to experience this price hike. Fair because it will see the same prices for people's in-app purchases on "Pokemon GO," and it will apply to all platforms.

But it is also unfair for Android users which do not have any Play Store changes from their mother company, unlike Apple's announcement.

Still, there is a possibility that this may see observed by other developers that offer their apps for the App Store and Play Store.

Apple App Store's Prices

Apple is infamous for its massive commission rate which multiple companies already raised against the company, especially with its 30 percent earnings that split only 70 percent to developers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk once spoke up against this, saying that it is 10 times higher than what he expects should be Apple's rate for all purchases.

The only change that Apple did for this is to have a commission cap for developers, particularly with a lower 15 percent commission rate for those with less than $1 million in revenue for the year.

However, those exceeding a million in their earnings for the year, would have to pay the full 30 percent as per the App Store's policy.

Epic Games and "Fortnite" previously fought Apple regarding this policy, particularly for its offers of a third-party payment option which violated App Store's policies.

Now, Apple brought another price hike and tax changes for developers for the growing inflation in the economy, and it is now affecting all users including those hailing from Android. It seems that developers want to be fair to both iOS and Android users for their in-app purchases, but there are complaints regarding the price hike which made Android users pay more despite having no changes.

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by Isaiah Richard