Technology

Good thing none of us have iPhones here, right, guys? Right?

It's just platform-milking, just like Meetup.com's latest antics; there isn't deep analysis needed to everything, haha. "Capitalism" is totally a legitimate answer despite being just one word.

They were sued by Epic Games for the same shit and Epic won on one count which allows them to put links to alternative payment methods and go around Apple.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Games_v._Apple

Last time this came up Patreon simply allowed the creators to charge the commission directly on top of the price for non apple users, or eat the 30% loss. So everyone not using iOS would pay, say, $5/month, iOS users would pay $5+30%. Hope they retain that option.

its also not how it works... at all. walmart would buy wholesale from a supplier not directly from the seller

What exactly does Apple think that they’re brining to the equation in order to deserve that 30?

Because Valve can and Tim wants his yachts. No one is gonna stop em either. The App Store and Steam are the same thing: Store fronts that sell other peoples goods. You may say that Steam is just an app—don't tell me, tell your representatives

Because Patreon creators can't afford to sue them

Next they'll take 30% on every transaction through my banking app.

Right? You'd think Patreon would throw their weight against Apple, as this is clearly not in their best interest. Threaten to pull the app, and if Apple follows through, they get nothing. Alternatively, move payments entirely outside of the app and force Apple to either do something which is guaranteed to be extremely unpopular, or call their bluff. But they won't do these things or even try to negotiate Apple's cut.

Apple may appear to swing the biggest dick here, but I am so disgusted by these weak companies just immediately bending over without a fight.

As always, it's the creators who will be faced with hardship, but neither entity seems to give a shit.

I'll throw a hat in the ring here. It's because Steam has a grip on the gaming market that others want instead of them. That's it, they want that money instead of Valve. Apple is getting a pass on this because it's just fucking over the common guy which businesses couldn't care less about.

Apple doesn't allow this - they expect your price to be the same everywhere or they'll remove the app from their store or decline version updates. There have historically been a few high profile exceptions privately negotiated, and I think they were forced to relax this in the last year or two, but here they are again trying to claw away money they did literally nothing to earn.

Patreon gives creators the option to either increase their prices in the iOS app only, or absorb the fee themselves, keeping prices the same across platforms.

It's already an option and if you read the article, only 4% are still on the legacy billing system (no Apple tax at all)

iOS users using a browser don't pay the Apple Tax. And the only reason to pay through the app is if you specifically want to use Apple Pay (e.g to pay with your phone bill instead of your credit card).

At this point it's a "stupid tax" more than anything.

What's wrong with Patreon? They advertise a 10% fee. It may be a little more complicated than that but 10% seems pretty reasonable considering the services they offer.