Patreon, Apple and websites
There are a few changes coming to Patreon, with the most noteworthy being Apple insisting on their famous 30% cut on in-app purchases. People are obviously upset. Additionally Patreon uses this to force creators into the subscription billing model instead of first-of-the-month billing.
There is a lot to unpack. From what I have gathered so far the subscription change is something they tried to push creators to for a long time and people were not excited about this change. Sometimes things really align in your favour, don’t they? Not like there is a decent amount of options to continue monthly billing. (Sorry, but Patreon already burned all good will with me.)
Personally I really do not like the subscription model. First of month is way easier to track and manage than random, small charges across the month. That paired with the abysmal UI Patreon shipped and fake notifications, managing multiple subscriptions will be a big pain. Guess their PMs know what they are doing.
I also believe Apple did everything right here. The same rules for everyone - no special deals anymore. This is long overdue. Now they just have to continue getting everyone on the same playing field instead continuing making exceptions for large tech companies.
There are many things you can argue about:
- 30% is too much
- Apple should do more / provide a better service for 30%
- their cut should be staggered based on revenue
But what no one should complain about is that everyone plays (or hopefully everyone will play) by the same rules. Even if the rules are stupid and potentially customer hostile.
Just to be clear, I am neither pro Apple nor pro Patreon. Both are companies with the sole goal to make money and increase revenue. Both spin their narrative the way that works in their favour. None of them are your friend, your ally or does anything out of their good heart.
Last but not least: there is no good reason Patreon even has an app. Patreon is, can be and will be a website. Which means they can integrate Apple Pay and any other payment provider and gateway. They do not have to have the app and conform to Apples AppStore rules. (Please resist the urge to message me about user engagement, push notifications, vendor lockin, realtime,... I did my fair share of mobile work including AppStore features. I know the arguments and actual usage numbers.)