Grade: C- (average score: 2.8, median score 3, last year: 3.1)
After some big gains in this category in the mid-2010s, the scores have slipped repeatedly, now reaching a low not seen since our first survey in 2015. The state of affairs in Apple’s relationship with its developer community could not be much more dire. The company’s legal battles with regulators and developers over its cut of App Store revenue and requirements to not allow external links or third-party credit card processing are generally viewed negatively; however, the dramatically reduced cut Apple has begun to take of smaller developers’ revenue was a bit of a counterbalance.
Benjamin Mayo said, “The App Store Small Business Program does give a pretty good deal to small developers. So even if Apple’s public relations around antitrust and the developer deal are basically in the same place this year as they were last, I believe indies like me are basically content with the status quo, as much as we’d wish Apple would forego some of its financial interests.”
Marco Arment said, “Apple’s tightening grip on App Store fees, attempts to reach into other parts of businesses that they don’t deserve, and extremely entitled and galling statements on the matter continue to be distasteful and extremely damaging to their reputation. It seems like a huge strategic blunder to inflame developer relations, generate bad PR, invite more regulatory scrutiny, and risk governments imposing much worse changes for such a small percentage of their revenue.”
Adam Engst said, “For a company that has more resources than nearly any other, Apple doesn’t seem to spend a lot of money or attention on creating an environment that’s nice to developers. It’s a shame, since developers are a lot of the reason that Apple has that $3 trillion market cap.”
Glenn Fleishman said, “Apple made significant changes for developers in 2021, but it continues to seem to make them only under pressure and with the threat of lawsuits or regulatory action. It would be delightful to see Apple stop treating their financial success as proof that everything they do is obviously correct and get ahead of what developers need and consumers want. The company wouldn’t take a big financial hit; it might be neutral or even positive. It’s all self-inflicted PR wounds on this front.”
Tom Bridge said, “We need better relationships between MDM developers and Apple, with more give and take, more conversations, more impactful input, and a better cadence for partnerships. I know that my take is different than many, but I’m a different sort of developer in my day job than most. When it comes to the App Store, Apple has some hard choices to make, lest they risk having the whole thing slip right through their fingers in the form of federal regulation of their spaces.”
James Thomson said, “Both the second virtual WWDC and the new Tech Talks have been great, and show that some parts of Apple’s developer organisation are very capable of adapting to change. However, the ‘you should be grateful we’re letting you make software for our platforms’ attitude that has been present throughout the App Store legal challenges this year does not inspire confidence that Apple recognizes the value developers bring.”
Joe Macirowski said, “I once again used a WWDC lab to ask questions that the documentation should answer. I’m probably against full Mac-style side-loading, but I don’t appreciate Apple lying or treating us like children in their officially stated opposition.”
Rich Siegel said, “My individual contacts with the developer relations organization continue to be positive and affirmative experiences. I think in the big picture, there are a lot of areas for improvement and the issues with the App Store and app review process are still in desperate need of attention and resolution.”
Charles Arthur said, “The Epic trial and the data and the attitude that came out of that seemed pretty damaging. A lot of developers seem to have accepted that they’re in something like an abusive relationship, but if they keep getting paid, and praised by users, that makes up for it. Plus the scams are terrible. Weekly subscriptions probably should be banned.”
Myke Hurley said, “At this point it feels like Apple would prefer to fight every court in the world than give up their 30%, and I honestly cannot fathom why they want to go to this trouble. All it does is put a sour taste in the mouth of people that should be their partners.”
Brent Simmons said, “I always believed Apple would draw a line at outright lying — but they continue to lie about what selling software was like before the App Store. They lie about what the review process does and about how developers are treated equally. As a developer, I find this profoundly disillusioning.”
Stephen Hackett said, “Apple continues to fight tooth and nail over its commission rates and ban on third-party processors. When you layer on the App Store’s apparent inability to weed out clones and scammy copies of apps, I’ve never been happier to not earn my living on the App Store.”
John Siracusa said, “The past few years have really cemented an adversarial relationship between Apple and developers. Apple seems to merely tolerate developers, and developers continue to mostly tolerate Apple, but too much has been said and done to damage the relationship. Apple’s reflexive expressions of love for developers now ring hollow. Developers’ complaints continue to fall on deaf ears. The only thing that seems to move Apple at all is the threat of government regulation.”
Casey Liss said, “Apple did finally launch TestFlight for macOS, but from everything I’ve gathered, it is largely an afterthought. App Store Connect is still unintuitive, but at least it has a mobile-friendly layout now? Crash/error reporting is still way behind the competition. Analytics is still not great. The 30% tax is really getting a bit overblown for the [lack of] services provided in return. The small business program is nice, but the hurdles that must be regularly jumped through to be a member are draconian and stupid. Apple digging in their heels in the courts worldwide is not a good look. Documentation has gotten slightly better, but it’s still pretty abysmal. Every time I search for something specific to Apple APIs, but end up on a Microsoft documentation page — for an Apple API! — I die a little inside. ‘No overview available’ is still a cancer on Apple’s documentation.”
Paul Kafasis said, “The App Stores continue to stink, and Apple’s fights with Epic and others are a terrible look for the world’s most valuable company. Apple can afford to be magnanimous, yet they’re being tight-fisted. Forcing apps to use in-app purchase is gross. Preventing apps from linking out is obscene. And trying to claim a (big) piece of sales from people using alternate payment methods? Yuck.”
Rich Mogull said, “You don’t need to be a developer to see the friction. And the App Store situation seems only headed to government intervention. While I am very against sideloading due to the security issues, Apple’s refusal to support even linking to outside payment options (for subscriptions) will most likely result in a government sledgehammer to open things up in ways that hurt both customers (security) and Apple.”
Nick Heer said, “Kosta Eleftheriou spent much of 2021 highlighted many iOS apps that were outright scams, some raking in thousands of dollars every week. Meanwhile, legitimate developers get stuck in approval hell for weeks. Then came Epic Games v. Apple. There were uncomfortable moments on both sides, but it was Apple that often looked worse, even if it came out on stronger legal footing. For months, the simmering displeasure for the App Store’s policies boiled over as even long-time developers seemed genuinely miserable. Apple settled a 2019 class action lawsuit, but its only concession was to permit developers to mention other payment methods in their direct communications with users. Apple also attempted to swat away proposed sideloading legislation in the E.U. with incomplete security arguments. It wasn’t all bad. Since WWDC was still remote, it remained free and accessible anywhere. Apple finally delivered TestFlight for MacOS. Apple promised to crack down on apps with ‘irrationally high prices.’ Oh, and in October, it became possible to report the kinds of scams Eleftheriou had been documenting.”
Rob Griffiths said, “Apple doesn’t really seem to like its developers, it just puts up with us because they know they need us.”
Dan Moren said, “App Store legal decisions have mostly been going Apple’s way, but the company has made some small concessions here and there, though we won’t see some of them (like external links for reader apps) until later this year. There hasn’t been a big blow-up since the Epic trial concluded; the status quo remains in effect.”
Josh Centers said, “At least developers have a good MacBook Pro now.”
Marcus Mendes said, “Apple’s been playing chicken with a wall for a while now, trying to will the wall into getting out of the way. Every single so-called improvement to the App Store felt like a transparent PR stunt, and every actual meaningful change has been appealed in the courts. I can only think of that Apple Watch keyboard app when I think of app review decisions, and how it’s pretty symbolic of every other big deal about it that made it to the news.”
John Gruber said, “Resentment over App Store policies continues to build. Rip-off apps continue to appear in App Store.”
Zac Hall said, “This score can only improve through court systems and government regulation.”
Michael Tsai said, “Bug reports and documentation are mostly ignored.”
Carolina Milanesi said, “Although Apple made some concessions this year around the Epic trial, I still argue that more transparency would benefit their developer relationship.”