Apple has announced an overhaul of its longstanding and rigid pricing structure for its App Store, enabling developers with greater flexibility to set prices for their products across 45 currencies and 175 storefronts. The Cupertino-based tech giant announced its biggest App Store pricing update on Tuesday, adding 700 new price points for developers and tools that help them set prices in different countries. These changes are now in effect for apps offering recurring, auto-renewable subscriptions, and will be introduced for all other in-app purchases in early 2023.
In its announcement, Apple dubbed its new pricing policies as “the most comprehensive upgrade” since the App Store launched in 2008. The new pricing structure increases the existing number of price points tenfold, Apple claimed, adding that there were now 600 new price points for developers and an additional 100 higher price points available upon request.
This brings up the total number of price points in the App Store to 900, beginning at $0.29 (roughly Rs 20) and going up to $10,000 (roughly Rs 8,25,000) upon request. The price points will go up incrementally; for products in the price range of $0.29 to $9.99 (roughly Rs 820) price points will be available at every $0.10 (roughly Rs 8). These ‘price steps’ will increase as the price of the product goes up.
New App Store pricing changes are in effect for subscription-based apps
Photo Credit: Apple
Apple is also implementing some pricing convention changes; App Store product prices don’t have to end in X.99 and more rounded price endings like X.00 or X.90 are now available. New App Store changes will also allow developers to navigate currency and tax rates in different regions by choosing a local storefront.
Prices for all other storefronts in various regions will be generated accordingly, according to Apple. Alternatively, developers can also set prices per storefront, essentially setting a different price for their apps in different countries. These changes are currently available to subscription apps only and will find their way to all other apps in 2023.
The App Store remains the only storefront for apps in Apple devices and the company charges a 15 to 30 percent cut on all transactions for subscriptions, paid apps and in-app purchases. Apple’s policies surrounding the App Store have received criticism in recent years and the company faces several complaints accusing them of anti-competitive practices. Regulators have even fined Apple for breach of antitrust law. The tech giant has also been involved in a high-profile antitrust legal battle with Epic Games over its strict control of the App Store.
