Starting next fall, Apple will also open to the iPad the possibility of creating alternative app application stores, as has already happened with the iPhone since last March in application of the European Digital Markets Law (DMA). This change will take place after the European Commission this week designated the Apple tablet as an access platform, a status in which only the iPhone was previously considered for iOS apps.
In addition to this change, which will allow alternative application stores to be created for the iPad, Apple has also announced the improvement of some conditions for small developers. Until now, only developers who reached more than one million first installations annually in the EU had to pay the so-called Base Technology Fee (CTF). Non-profit organizations, public administrations and educational institutions did not pay. Apple has now introduced two new exceptions.
A developer who has no income of any kind will also not have to pay the CTF. This includes creating a free app without monetization that is not related to physical, digital, advertising or other revenue. The apple company believes that this gives students, hobbyists and other non-commercial developers the opportunity to create popular apps.
On the other hand, small developers – those with less than €10 million in annual revenue – who adopt the alternative commercial conditions will receive a free 3-year on-ramp to the CTF. If in that time it reaches one million first annual installations, it will not pay either. Within the three-year period, you will only have to pay when you reach income of 10 to 50 million euros.
