Juli Clover:
As WWDC 2025 approaches, Apple has updated its Developer app to prepare for the week-long event. The refreshed version of the developer app will host the WWDC 2025 session videos, 1-on-1 labs with Apple engineers, and more.
It’s still unreliable at working offline. I launched the app, and all of the screens were empty. There was no way to access the videos I’d already downloaded. After launching it again when online, I can now browse the cached stuff when offline. But I assume it still works like previous versions in that after some unknown amount of time it will break until I take it online again.
Previously:
Apple Developer App iOS iOS 18 Mac macOS 15 Sequoia WWDC
Jacob Eiting (Mastodon):
Turns out, in-app purchases are good for conversion rates. In fact, at least 30% better. That’s one of the things we found while running the first large-scale, side-by-side test of in-app vs web purchases in history.
[…]
The initial conversion rate for variant B is between 27% and 30%, while the equivalent web flow in variant D is between 17% and 19%. This is a large decrease, a 25% to 45% relative drop between the two. Digging into the funnel, most of that drop occurs from the payment sheet through to purchase. That’s a lot of fall off.
I do not find the difference surprising—especially since this is all so new. It can get better from here. I wonder how many of the customers had Apple Pay set up and how many used it.
Reduced fees aren’t the only benefit of web purchases; they usually have more tools to retain and serve these users. Payment processors like Stripe pay out much more quickly than IAP, reducing cashflow constraints.
And better handling for refunds.
RevenueCat:
You can make this up by offering a discount, we tested this too but don't have anything conclusive to say about that test yet.
Tim Schmitz:
It’s almost like Apple never needed these draconian rules all along and could have just competed on the merits 🤔
They’re still not competing on the merits because they don’t allow implementing alternative in-app payments.
Previously:
App Store Business External iOS Payments In-App Purchase iOS iOS 18 RevenueCat
Viktor Maric:
first time seeing this. Apple will punish the apps with external payment system
Swift Dev:
Yup it’s real, you see this warning if the app doesn’t use IAP.
Also it says external purchases next to the “get” button
It’s confusing to follow all the changes, but apparently—unlike in the US—external purchases in the EU don’t need to have corresponding IAP versions.
The warning adds five lines of text at the top of the App Store screen, above even the app’s name and icon.
On macOS, Apple declares three levels of alerts:
Informational (app icon): “to be used to inform the user about a current or impending event”
Warning (app icon): “to be used to warn the user about a current or impending event[…] when the alert’s content is more severe than [informational]”
Critical (orange ! triangle icon): “Use a caution symbol sparingly. Using a caution symbol like exclamationmark.triangle too frequently in your alerts diminishes its significance. Use the symbol only when extra attention is really needed, as when confirming an action that might result in unexpected loss of data.”
Guess which icon the App Store uses for external payments.
But I wonder how many users will see the warnings. If you’ve already purchased an app, it can auto-update to add external payments without your having to go back to the store. And I think the DMA mandated that there can’t be scare screens at the time of purchase.
Previously:
Design European Union External iOS Payments iOS iOS 18
Apple:
Apple today announced new accessibility features coming later this year, including Accessibility Nutrition Labels, which will provide more detailed information for apps and games on the App Store. Users who are blind or have low vision can explore, learn, and interact using the new Magnifier app for Mac; take notes and perform calculations with the new Braille Access feature; and leverage the powerful camera system of Apple Vision Pro with new updates to visionOS. Additional announcements include Accessibility Reader, a new systemwide reading mode designed with accessibility in mind, along with updates to Live Listen, Background Sounds, Personal Voice, Vehicle Motion Cues, and more.
Joe Rossignol:
For CarPlay, this includes support for the Large Text option that has long existed on iPhones. Apple is also expanding the Sound Recognition feature for drivers or passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing. CarPlay will be able to provide a notification if it hears a crying baby inside the vehicle, and it will also be able to alert users to sounds outside the vehicle, such as horns and sirens from police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks.
I wish CarPlay had a small text option so I could see more of the song title.
Shelly Brisbin:
App Store pages will soon include fields for developers to indicate which accessibility features their app supports, along with links to more detailed information. Examples include: VoiceOver, Voice Control, dark appearance, larger text, and more. Media app pages can indicate if the app supports audio description and/or captioning.
It’s safe to say that accessibility users have long requested a way to determine accessibility before downloading. For developers, the labels provide a means to differentiate between apps that prioritize accessibility and those that do not.
Ryan:
Gotta be honest, I do wonder if Apple’s apps will be honest about things like “Sufficient Contrast”.
I question whether the privacy nutrition labels are a net positive because there’s no verification. Maybe they just give users a false sense of security and help nefarious companies take advantage of them. The accessibility labels could be fake, too, but at least the harm would be along the lines of advertising features that don’t exist—rather than saying they protect your data when they don’t. And they should at least help raise awareness.
Marco Arment:
I worry that without verification, the features will be poorly understood and inconsistently implemented by developers claiming support.
I wrote back in 2014 that I wanted App Review to let us opt into accessibility testing, and show a badge for apps that pass.
Could be a great way to improve outcomes for customers AND give developers more value for the 15/30%.
Steven Aquino:
[The] longstanding Magnifier app for iOS and iPadOS is making its way to macOS this year. Its implementation is clear in inspiration, as Apple essentially took the building blocks for Continuity Camera on iOS and tvOS to make Magnifier for Mac. The company boasts the feature will be a boon to people with low vision (like yours truly) to understand the physical world more accessibly. It’s one thing to describe it, but it’s another thing entirely to see it; to that end, Apple has made a video showing a person with albinism using Magnifier for Mac, with their iPhone clipped to their MacBook’s display, taking notes in a college classroom during a lecture. Magnifier for Mac integrates with another new feature this year, called Accessibility Reader, which, with Magnifier, will “[transform] text from the physical world into a custom legible format.”
Previously:
Accessibility App Store CarPlay iOS iOS 19 Mac Mac App Store macOS 16 Magnifier visionOS visionOS 3
