Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Apple reveals how much it paid to App Store developers in 2021

Apple paid out a total of $60 billion dollars to App Store developers in 2021, data released by the tech giant this week revealed.

The company said that since the App Store’s launch in 2008, $260 billion has been paid to App Store developers globally, up from $200 billion a year earlier.

Apple said the figure set a new annual record for App Store developer earnings while noting that it represented “just a small fraction” of the overall commerce that the App Store facilitates.

According to company data, during the most recent holiday season, App Store customers “spent more than ever before between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, driving double-digit growth from last year.”

Commenting on the most recent figures, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, said: “With over 745 million paid subscriptions, Apple continues to connect the world’s developers, artists, and storytellers with users across more than a billion devices, delivering powerful tools, content, and experiences that enrich their lives in profound ways every day.”

But the App Store’s successful year hasn’t come without controversy, with Apple facing increasing scrutiny over its business practices while also dealing with lawsuits linked to the operation of its online marketplace.

For example, the battle with Epic Games rumbles on, with Epic appealing a judge’s ruling in September, which failed to resolve the matter for the video game company.

The case blew up in August 2020 when Epic accused Apple (and also Google with its Play Store) of anticompetitive and monopolistic practices with their respective app stores. As a result, Epic attempted to circumvent the in-app purchasing process in which Apple takes a 30% commission from each sale, with Epic’s measures allowing players to make purchases directly from the developer at discounted prices. Apple responded by booting Epic’s Fortnite game out of the App Store, with Epic firing back by taking the matter to court.

In a ruling released in September last year, the judge said the court could not “ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist under either federal or state antitrust laws,” but ordered Apple to include links in App Store listings that would allow customers to exit the store to make a purchase, thereby giving the developer 100% of a sale. However, as Epic has decided to appeal other aspects of the case, the change to App Store procedures has been delayed.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Control Center on the iPhone is a mess — here’s how Apple can fix it
Someone holding an iPhone 14. The display is turned on and showing the Control Center.

The clock keeps ticking down to Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 5. This is where we expect Apple to unveil its headliner mixed reality headset, as well as the usual slew of software updates for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac.

Though it was originally rumored that iOS 17 would primarily focus on bug fixes and improvements, a later report said it could bring some “highly requested features from users.” And this week, there was another report that suggests iOS 17 will be bringing some big changes to the Control Center.

Read more
No, you can’t use an Apple gift card on Apple Pay
Photo of Apple gift cards.

A viral TikTok has made the internet rounds, showing a person who thought that they could transfer Apple gift card funds to Apple Pay. After buying a $300 Apple gift card, however, they quickly learned that that's simply not possible. While their choice might seem misguided in hindsight, there are plenty of people who have been left confused about the differences between Apple gift cards and Apple Pay.

While having a $300 Apple gift card certainly has its uses — such as buying 10 years of Apple Music, as the original poster jokingly pointed out — it's certainly not the same as having that same money to spend freely with Apple Pay. To avoid making the same mistake as this TikTok user, make sure that you understand the distinctions between the two Apple services, as it might just save you $300 (or more).
You cannot add Apple gift cards to Apple Pay

Read more
Apple may kill one of its most important iPhones with iOS 17
Apple iPhone X screen upright on a table.

Apple’s WWDC 2023 is just a few weeks away, which is when we expect the company to unveil new software updates for iPhone, Apple Watch, iPads, Mac, and more. This means we’ll be seeing a preview of iOS 17, watchOS 10, iPadOS 17, and macOS 14 during the conference. However, a new report seems to hint that iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 will drop support for devices that were released between November 2015 and November 2017.

According to MacRumors, a source with a proven track record for upcoming software updates reports that iOS 17 will drop support for the following devices: iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, the first generation 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and fifth-generation iPad.

Read more