Two Additional Observations Regarding Apple’s Core Technology Fee

From Apple’s support page for the new Core Technology Fee announced last week:

Nonprofit organizations, accredited educational institutions, and government entities who are approved for a fee waiver are exempt from the Core Technology Fee, subject to the Apple Developer Program’s existing rules. Developers of alternative app marketplaces will pay the Core Technology Fee for every first annual install of their app marketplace, including installs that occur before one million.

One problem I see with the Core Technology Fee is that it doesn’t seem compatible with the concept of completely free-of-charge apps from developers who aren’t registered non-profits, educational institutions, or governments. What we used to call freeware back in the day. Like what about NetNewsWire? That’s a totally free and open source app, but it’s not from a non-profit, school, or government. I feel like developers of freeware should be able to apply for an exemption. Perhaps even only for open source freeware?

The second sentence quoted above is something I didn’t notice until my friend Manton Reece pointed it out over the weekend. Marketplace store apps don’t get 1 million free installs — they start paying the CTF after the first download.

★ Monday, 29 January 2024