Forking over 30% isn't the best option. It's the only option.

If Apple had unlisted apps that didn't show up in the store listings and required a click through from your website to get to the app's store page, I bet some developers would opt for that if it meant they didn't have to pay the 30% tax.

Right, but the value isn't that you're listed in the app store, the value is that you can collect payment on-device. The store isn't the retail space, the whole device it.

You could not release an app in their store and ignore their existence entirely. But that's ridiculous and you can't afford to do that because their user-base is so valuable. And so Apple charges a premium because they know that.

No, the other option is to not fork over 30%. If your app is so good that Apple needs you more than you need Apple, they’ll come to the table.

This is the second time in less than a day that you've broken HN's guideline against accusations of shillage, astroturfing, etc. It says this:

Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email us and we'll look at the data.

That rule is in place for good reason: the overwhelming majority of such accusations are pure imagination, which makes them poison. It's also a cheap, aggressive internet tactic, which makes it ubiquitous. Cheap ubiquitous poison is an environmental hazard, especially on a site which is trying to deviate from internet default, so it needs to be regulated. This rule is how we do that here. There is plenty of past explanation at https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme... for anyone who wants it.

Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules from now on.

I only repeat the argument so I get to hear a bunch of people’s takes on it. Once you’re deep in a thread it’s pretty much only you and the person you’re replying to.

I don’t think the App Store is the source of customer acquisition. I think being able to sell on iOS devices is the source of customer acquisition. Being able to upsell a user to your premium service right there on the device is the valuable thing that costs a premium.

This is a really ambiguous, unusual, and (in my opinion) inappropriate use of the term "customer acquisition".

The App Store is a marketplace that connects people developing for a platform (iOS) to customers using devices compatible with that platform. It is also the only marketplace that does this. In this way, it is best thought of as a (monopolistic) distribution channel.

But why is the “App Store” the distribution channel and not the device itself? I mean Apple would be within their right to just not allow 3rd party apps at all on their devices so why is it weird that they take a cut from anyone who wants to set up a booth on their land?

Like it feels wrong to punish a company for not closing their platform like consoles do to any only working with a few select partners.