Apple is Holding Back the Creator Economy

Even so, it is highly improbable that Apple will do much more to be friendlier to platforms and creators unless the government forces them to. Why? They have a great business. Apple has a hardware monopoly over a specific set of consumers, and they’ve leveraged that into a monopoly on payments conducted on those devices.

-Too much intermediation of the relationship between buyers and sellers

We’re not the first to critique Apple’s policies. But most debates about Apple center on the harm they cause to developers, and instead we think the far larger impact is on creators: the millions of people that could be earning more money and connecting with their fans.

Specifically, we take issue with:

Apple has always thought of itself as the kind of company that empowers creative people to do their best work... But now, through its App Store policies, Apple is now one of the main barriers to independent creators thriving on the internet.

No other major platform—including the Mac—forces the same limitations on payment infrastructure that Apple does: imagine the hue and cry if Google Chrome were to only allow payments using Google Pay.

Steve Jobs’ original vision for the App Store was a curated, hand picked selection of apps that ran seamlessly on iPhones—giving users a smooth and secure experience. This was necessary at the beginning.

Restrictive, inconsistent norms on what kinds of apps are allowed in the store

-Their 30% take rate on IAP