Apple’s new EU App Store rules have opened up a whole new way to pay for iPhone apps, supporting them through Patreon.
The reveal comes via Riley Testut’s AltStore. Last week, Testut shared a first look at installing apps in the EU on an iPhone without the App Store. Now, in an interview with Techcrunch this week, Testut revealed that its store will include Patreon-backed apps, using a custom integration.
Patreon is a crowdfunding platform that allows users to sign up for regular monthly or annual subscriptions to a variety of media including podcasts, music, videos and software. Now the power of Patreon and Apple’s new EU rules combine to give users a new way to subscribe to apps in the latest version of iOS 17, now available on all of Apple’s top iPhones.
Patreon-supported apps on your iPhone
As Techcrunch reports, “Instead of relying solely on ads, paid downloads, or in-app purchases for monetization, AltStore will allow developers to use its custom Patreon integration to market their apps directly to consumers.” Although Apple’s own App Store allows developers to offer subscriptions through in-app purchases, you can’t pay for them anywhere else and Apple takes a cut of the revenue. According to Testut, AltStore will launch with two apps, its Delta video game emulator (which is free) and Clipboard management app, which will “require a pledge of $1 or more on crowdfunding platform Patreon.” Beta versions of Delta and Clip are also in the works, with a $3 monthly Patreon support required for early access privilege. Testut did not mention whether this would prevent direct payments for apps.
As you might expect, Testut says that developers will be able to use this integration with Patreon to distribute their own paid apps in the future, creating a whole new business model for iPhone apps that hasn’t been available to developers before. Integration with Patreon could solve one of the key problems that developers face when creating software, successfully monetizing it, and getting revenue upfront. Currently, App Store developers are faced with either charging for their apps or offering in-app subscriptions, which can make it difficult to launch an app. A freemium option (a free app with in-app purchases) or using ads to generate revenue can cheapen the experience for users.
Running an app through Patreon will give users at least a portion of guaranteed income, ensuring they receive income from all their users. Outspoken critic and App Store developer Steve Troughton-Smith said on Mastodon that the model “gives you a completely different, personal relationship with your users and allows you to use the same rewards system you use for videos, blog posts, merchandise, etc.” Developers will be able to use Patreon tiers to offer higher-paying users exclusive features like early access, extra functionality, or even extra perks outside of alternative app stores. Finally, the move will give developers some insulation from Apple’s new Core Technology Fee, which charges developers a fee of 0.50 cents for all new downloads above the 1 million install threshold.
Testut told Techcrunch that AltStore is ready to launch but is awaiting final approval from Apple, meaning we could see it any day now.