Apple says App Store developers have earned more than $260 billion since its launch in 2008, or $60 billion in 2021.

In a post, Apple said:

Apps and games have become the primary source for the world’s newest and most innovative entertainment. The effort, innovation, and creativity of developers who leverage Apple technology to create these incredible experiences, and combine the power of the global App Store platform to connect businesses of all sizes with more than 600 million people. Every week in 175 countries, it has pushed developers to sell digital goods and services that have earned more than $260 billion since the launch of the App Store in 2008. This large number sets a new annual record for app developer store revenue while representing only a small portion of the overall commerce facilitated by The App Store, as an important sign of how the ecosystem continues to create opportunities and drive economic expansion for entrepreneurs around the world. This holiday season alone, App Store customers spent more time than ever between Christmas and New Years, resulting in double-digit growth compared to last year.

2021 brought a slate of successful launches on the App Store, with the world’s leading entertainment companies choosing to preview big-name movies like Disney+’s “Black Widow” and HBO Max’s “Space Jam: A New Legacy” in the app on the same Today they hit theaters. And in October, the App Store launched in-app events, timely events within apps and games such as game contests, movie premieres, live experiences, and more. Notable events in the past few months have included in-game events such as “The Champions have arrived*!” In “Clash Royale” and “Space Tour” in “Mario Kart Tour” and “Pokmon GO Halloween Mischief” in “Pokmon GO”, while popular events such as TikTok’s Stranger Things Watch Party and ESPN’s “Man in the Arena” *: Tom Brady Attracting audiences into the app.

And he continues by saying:

Over the past year, Apple Arcade’s premium game library has seen its biggest expansion yet, now offering gamers of all ages over 200 premium and family-friendly games, including new releases from the world’s best developers, award-winning titles and favorites from App Store, all without ads or in-app purchases.

Now members can enjoy original games like “Sneaky Sasquatch”, “NBA 2K22 Arcade Edition”, “The Oregon Trail”, “LEGO Star Wars: Castaways” and “Disney Melee Mania”. Players can also embark on award-winning titles such as “Monument Valley”, “Mini Metro” and “Galaga Wars” and re-visit timeless classics such as “Solitaire by MobilityWare” and “Good Sudoku by Zach Gage”. Apple Arcade games support the high standards of privacy for Apple users and can be shared with up to five family members using Family Sharing with one all-in-one subscription. This year, players can look forward to the release of lots of much-anticipated new games, including “Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis,” and enjoy new content updates being added every week.

2021 was a year of innovation for Apple Music, bringing subscribers great novelty, original content, and product features that transformed the experience of discovering and enjoying music from around the world. Apple Music offers listeners one of the largest music catalogs ever, now featuring over 90 million songs, all available with lossless audio, so fans can hear music as created by artists. Spatial audio with Dolby Atmos and support for dynamic head tracking has ushered in the next generation of audio, giving artists the ability to deliver immersive audio experiences with exceptional clarity, while making listeners deeper into the picture. Their all-time favorite songs.

New features including autoplay, lyrics sharing, city graphics, anime cover art, improved search, Share with you, and a redesigned listening tab make music discovery fun, while Apple Music TV on the Apple TV app, and Apple Music in Apple News, support for Apple Music on FaceTime with SharePlay, Apple Fitness +, and Memories in Photos expand the experience across the Apple ecosystem.

Apple, under pressure from developers and regulators over how it manages its App Store

While the new numbers indicate that the App Store remains a big money maker, developers’ dissatisfaction with the App Store is high at this time. Many developers have challenged what they see as restrictive store policies, especially the 30% commission Apple charges on many transactions. Epic Games and other developers have rebelled against this practice, but also against forcing Apple to use its own payment system and banning alternatives. To justify itself, the company presents the user security argument.

Apple, under pressure from developers and regulators over the way it operates its App Store, is changing some of its rules, with a proposed settlement filed in court after a class-action lawsuit. In fact, Apple will allow app developers to implement payment systems outside the App Store and communicate directly with customers about them. Previously, the app was removed from the App Store if it bypassed Apple’s payment systems and commissions for in-app purchases.

The term rule will not allow developers to inform users of purchase options outside the App Store within the apps themselves, requiring that communication be made outside of the apps. Application developers can contact customers using the email addresses and phone numbers obtained in their applications and tell them how to purchase subscriptions and other digital content on the developer’s websites or elsewhere.

Apple currently does not allow developers to use contact information (emails, phone numbers, etc.) obtained in an app to contact their user base outside of the app, effectively preventing developers from using the app. ‘Alert their customers to other payment options, remind complainants. The proposed regulation removes this limitation, and it does so for all classes of applications.

The reason this is important is that until now Apple, which takes in up to 30% of the money developers earn when they make in-app sales, hasn’t allowed developers to talk to customers; Cheaper alternatives. Now they can.

While app developers have accused Apple of turning a legal settlement into a minor change to the App Store, the company appears to have made a small concession: Apple said it would release them. Player-type app developers (think Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon’s Kindle) link their customers directly to their sign-up site, where they can bypass Apple’s fully integrated payment system (and its 30% commission).

In a press release, Apple said the move would end an investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) and would only apply to this type of reader app for now (a category that Apple originally designed to please companies like Netflix and Hulu by letting them simply allow users to Sign in to their existing account instead of getting a new subscription through the App Store and having to pay Apple fees.).

Monday’s press release also included a statistic first shared in the October results: There are more than 745 million paid subscriptions to developer and Apple services. In recent years, Apple has added new premium services such as News Plus, Fitness Plus, and Apple TV Plus to its list of service offerings. The strategy appears to be paying off, given the all-time service revenue record reported in October earnings, but it’s unclear how many subscriptions to Apple’s own services are in those 745 million.

Apple Pay has provided more customers with a secure and easy way to pay in stores and online around the world after reaching nine new markets in 2021, including Colombia, Israel and Mexico. Today, Apple Pay is available in nearly 60 countries and regions, and works with nearly 9,000 banking partners around the world.

Apple is also continuing to realize its vision of replacing physical customer wallets with Wallet, an easy-to-use and secure digital wallet. Wallet helped customers access critical health information in 2021, with the ability to add and view verifiable COVID-19 vaccination cards and, in Australia, health insurance cards. Wallet’s digital tickets have helped places and their guests create secure and contactless experiences, and last year customers used 30 million NFC tickets in Wallet for music, sports, theater, and more in the US and Canada. The ability for customers to simply tap on their iPhone or Apple Watch to pay and receive public transportation is now available in more than 200 cities around the world after recently debuting in China (Nanchang and Foshan), Russia (Kazan) and Sweden (Malm), as well as San Francisco with Card Clipper. Wallet Student Cards help college students in the US and Canada move safely around campus. And for travelers, Apple has released the first hotel room keys at select Hyatt hotels in the US while unlocking magical moments for visitors to Walt Disney World with Disney MagicMobile Passes in Wallet. Users can expect home keys and company badges to be supported, as well as state IDs and driver’s licenses this year.

source : An apple

See also:

Apple opposes links to third-party payment systems ahead of Epic Games hearing, blocked by order of the judge in charge of the case
Epic wins Australian appeal against Apple, Fortnite publisher Apple App Store case soon to come to Australian court