> It is like the mafia demanding you pay for the privilege of doing business on your street
If Apple were to add this tax or raise it long after launch I could perhaps see this argument.
However, this tax is nothing new. AFAIK it has been like this for _years_. App developers must have known (before starting development) that there is a fee if you were to use the platform.
If you knew a certain street has mafia activity (or other similar taxes), would you make the concious choise of moving your store there? Well, if the business opportunuties are good enough, then it might be worth it. If the mafia suddenly showed up, then the equation could be different. This is just like any other business investment analysis.
If 30% is too much all in all, then it is unsustainable to keep the app store as an option.
App developers don't get to choose which platforms their users are on. There's a reason why things like react-native mainly target ios and android - that's where the users are. That is why people compare it to the mafia, you have to do business there, which means you have to pay them. Where are you finding users that aren't on android/ios?
If Apple were to add this tax or raise it long after launch I could perhaps see this argument.
However, this tax is nothing new. AFAIK it has been like this for _years_. App developers must have known (before starting development) that there is a fee if you were to use the platform.
If you knew a certain street has mafia activity (or other similar taxes), would you make the concious choise of moving your store there? Well, if the business opportunuties are good enough, then it might be worth it. If the mafia suddenly showed up, then the equation could be different. This is just like any other business investment analysis.
If 30% is too much all in all, then it is unsustainable to keep the app store as an option.