{"id":48855,"date":"2025-08-11T16:43:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T20:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=48855"},"modified":"2025-08-13T16:32:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:32:04","slug":"history-of-apples-developer-relations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/11\/history-of-apples-developer-relations\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Apple’s Developer Relations"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Barnard<\/a> (John Gruber<\/a>):<\/p>\n

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On the podcast I talk with John about the fascinating 40-year history of Apple’s developer relations, how almost going bankrupt in the 1990s shaped today’s control-focused approach, and why we might need an ‘App Store 3.0’ reset.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

As the App Store became a services giant, the partnership vibe faded. Developers went from partners to “users” of Apple’s marketplace.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Today, indie devs can pay Apple millions, while giants like Meta pay almost nothing. The fee logic and incentives don’t fit 2025.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

With Apple’s senior leadership nearing retirement, now is the time to set new priorities: empower developers, invest in the ecosystem, and ensure Apple’s platforms stay vibrant for decades to come.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

There’s lots of interesting stuff here, but one point I wanted to highlight is how they talked about complexity. Apple could have just applied the App Store small business program rate automatically—it has the sales data—but perhaps they make marginally more services revenue by introducing an application and enrollment process. The antitrust compliance stuff has so far been country\/region-specific, which is confusing for everyone. Instead of dragging it out and giving as little as possible in each jurisdiction, they could just introduce a new set of broadly acceptable rules that are applicable everywhere and move on to focus on other things.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n