Apple announced a pilot program called yesterday “contingent pricing for subscriptions” that will allow App Store developers to automatically offer discounted subscriptions to users of other apps. Developers, the company says, will be able to base this on subscriptions “from one or two different developers,” allowing them to not only attract existing customers to their other apps, but also compete by offering deals to their competitors. subscribers.
There is a small drawback here: According 9to5Mac, the discount is only valid while the customer's other subscription is active. So if someone tries an app because it offers a deal and decides to cancel the other subscription, it will go back to the normal price. Apple also reportedly told developers that these discounts can be used in advertising and marketing for the App Store outside of the App Store, as well as within the app itself.
It could be a while before the program's benefits are visible in the wild, as Apple says it will be onboarding developers over the “coming months.” It will be interesting to see how it affects subscriptions on the platform as developers begin to compete with this new tool.
At first glance, the feature sounds like a win for developers, at least as long as it doesn't benefit only the largest developers who can afford to offer these types of deals. Increasing the appeal of the App Store is something Apple will continue to need to do as regulatory pressure on its digital store supremacy increases. Although the company emerged virtually unscathed from its antitrust fight with Epic, the fortnite The manufacturer just scored a surprising victory against Google, which could encourage future challenges to blocking the iOS App Store.
In the EU, where Apple will soon allow third-party app stores, simply having a store will not be enough: Apple will also have to make it attractive to developers and customers. That means helping developers make as much money as possible for their efforts, and giving them more ways to compete for customers is part of that.
