Microsoft criticizes Apple's download fees for developers

Apple plans to comply with the European Union’s tech regulations by allowing users to sideload apps from third-party stores. While this is good for end users, it seems that developers will be hit with additional fees.

This move has sparked criticism from Epic Games, Spotify, and now Microsoft. So, what is this criticism about and is it justified?

Apple’s new policy is a step in the wrong direction according to Microsoft

With the support for sideloading, Apple has also introduced a Core Technology Fee for developers that host their apps on third-party stores.

This means that the developers will be forced to pay €0.50 per app install after one million downloads. Of course, there’s still a 17% tax on app developers using third-party payment processors.

Microsoft’s Xbox president Sarah Bond commented on these changes in a recent tweet criticizing this decision.

Daniel Ek, Spotify CEO also criticized this change in a recent post calling this change “an extortion” that will impact startups and free app developers. The change could also increase the costs of major companies, up to 10 times:

With our EU Apple install base in the 100 million user range, this new tax on downloads and updates could skyrocket our customer acquisition costs, potentially increasing them tenfold. This, as we have to pay on every install or update to our free or paid app, even for those who no longer use the service.

Many aren’t happy with this change, and it seems that Apple is forcing developers to exclusively distribute their apps on the App Store or face additional costs.

It remains to be seen how Apple will handle this criticism, especially after Apple opened its store to Xbox Cloud Gaming recently.

Hopefully, Apple will back down from Core Technology Fee thus allowing the software market to be open and fair. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments!