Apple removes $99 dev account requirement for first iOS 17 and macOS 14 betas

Re:Apple removes $99 dev account requirement for first iOS 1... by ryandrake on Wednesday June 07, 2023 @07:19PM (#36235035)

This is a great question. Apple's fee basically says:

"Software development should either be money-losing (developer pays Apple and releases a free app), or it should be a business (developer pays Apple and attempts to make a profit)." There is no room for developers who want to release pure hobby apps with no expectation of commerce.

I don't release any of the iOS apps I write. First of all, I would never charge for them, and therefore I cannot justify paying $X/year for the ability to release them. So I do them for my own pleasure and education and that's it.

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Re:Apple removes $99 dev account requirement for first iOS 1... by JumpCrisscross on Wednesday June 07, 2023 @07:27PM (#36235110)

> hobby apps with no expectation of commerce

99% of this in the real world is spam. Not because it’s malicious. But the app is built for the developer, not the user. That’s not Apple’s MO.

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Re:Apple removes $99 dev account requirement for first iOS 1... by Alupis on Wednesday June 07, 2023 @07:45PM (#36235252)

Just because someone cobbles together some code doesn't mean it's going to be listed in the App Store.

iOS isn't the only Apple operating system either.

There is no "anti-spam" argument that can hold water.

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Re:Apple removes $99 dev account requirement for first iOS 1... by pdntspa on Wednesday June 07, 2023 @08:25PM (#36235527)

Then we should have an alternate means of installing applications. Like sideloading.

Whatever happened to the EU Digital Markets act? That was supposed to force apple's hand.

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Re:Apple removes $99 dev account requirement for first iOS 1... by fsflover on Thursday June 08, 2023 @05:05PM (#36249052)

How many percents of the Linux repositories is spam? What about F-Droid?

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