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[Beja]

I Paid for the iPhone. I Built the App. So Why Is Apple Charging Me (Rent)?​

10 May 2025|Mohamed Ali​

I built a small iPhone game for my daughter. It was a labor of love — written in my free time, with my own tools, for one purpose only: to bring joy to a child I care about. I had no plans to sell it, share it, or profit from it. The app was private, non-commercial, and safe. But what came next was shocking. () Apple Says: "Pay $99/year or Your Daughter Can't Use It." Despite: • Owning the iPhone outright, at full retail price, • Developing the app entirely myself, • Wanting to install it on just one device, for personal use, Apple blocks me. Unless I: • Buy a Mac computer (or rent one), • Pay Apple $99/year for a "Developer Account", • Submit my private app to Apple, who will "validate" it, • And resubmit it every year or it gets revoked. This is not a business I’m running. This is not a product I’m distributing. This is a father writing a private app for his child. Yet Apple acts like a landlord demanding rent for a house I already own. ________________________________________ () A Locked-Down System That Treats Users as Tenants On Android, I simply: • Copy the .apk file to my daughter’s phone, • Tap “Install”, • And we’re done. No permission, no fees, no Apple engineer peeking at family photos embedded in the app. But Apple refuses to let me do the same with a phone I paid for. Instead, they demand: • Control over what I build. • Money for the privilege. • Access to my content. ________________________________________ () This Is Not Just Inconvenient — It’s Wrong. This isn’t about protecting users from scams or malware — this was a one-device, private use case. Yet Apple forces a recurring tax for even that. When I pay full price for a device, I expect ownership — not a leash. I expect the right to use it as I see fit — not corporate permission slips. This is: • A violation of user rights. • A monopoly abusing its power. • And for developers like me, it feels like extortion wrapped in slick UI design. ________________________________________ () Where Is Congress? Where Are Our Rights? European regulators are starting to act. The Digital Markets Act now forces Apple to allow alternative app stores and sideloading. Developers in the EU can finally distribute apps without begging Apple first. But in the United States, we’re still waiting. The Open App Markets Act has been stalled for years. Meanwhile, Apple’s grip only tightens — charging developers, taxing innovation, and invading privacy. We need lawmakers to: • Restore digital ownership. • Allow alternative app stores. • Protect small developers and consumers alike. ________________________________________ () I Call on Every Developer, Parent, and User to Speak Up. If you've felt this injustice — say something. If you've paid Apple for a device and been denied its full use — speak out. You can: • Email your representatives. • Join digital rights organizations like the EFF. • Support open platforms and push for change. Apple didn’t build my app. Apple didn’t buy the phone. Apple isn’t raising my daughter. So why is Apple demanding rent?

 

[stevel05]

I understand your frustration. When B4i first came out I bought an IPad mini (Which has been collecting dust for a good few years now) and subscribed to the Apple developer account for a year. I did enjoy playing with something new but I'm the same as you, I don't sell anything, so didn't feel that $99 a year was a good use of my money. It's their loss at the end of the day as I have no reason to buy Apple hardware.

 

[byz]

Apple's policy is like this, simply put, it wants to make money, earn more money. There is a term called apple tax.I don't know how to express that in English, but in Chinese, it can be said that 雁过拔毛。So, if you want to freely use your own programs, then Android is your choice.

 

[stevel05]

There is a term called apple tax.I don't know how to express that in English,

Apple tax is a very good expression.

 

[hatzisn]

If we have a look at these statistics then we can make out why apple is acting like this.

Google, with Android, has almost 72% of worldwide share of mobile devices. And it does not stop there... It gets shares even from all markets by selling access to APIs, Google Maps, Ads etc. My opinion is that it is just not good marketing by apple targeting the developers and products mainly for income. The thing is that they have increased their share from 18% to almost 27% in six years, yet they are completely useless in broadening their horizons.