WEEKLY WHEATIES #2521
App Store Battles, Google I/O, AI Updates, US Roadtrip
In this newsletter:
📝 Post: From Free to Fee: The Battle of the App Store Pricing
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: Google I/O
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: AI Updates
😎 Pick of the Week: Road Trip Across the US
📦 Featured Product: USB Power Meter Tester
📝 From Free to Fee: The Battle of the App Store Pricing
Whether you use Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android, there is a high probability that you download apps for your phone or tablet. If those apps aren’t created by Apple or Google, they are considered Third-Party apps. This isn’t anything new, as we’ve had apps for our devices for over a decade now. However, the pricing structure of those apps has drastically changed over the years. As a millennial, I’m going to steal a phrase often attributed to the boomers, “back in my day…“ I remember when apps were either free or cost a couple of dollars.
At first, most apps either were free or had a one-time charge, but they were two separate apps. Now, we have all of these apps with subscriptions, in-app purchases, or what is commonly referred to as a Freemium app. This essentially means the app is free with ads and there are extra in-app purchases to unlock new features, turn off ads, or more.
While subscription services may get a lot of flak, there are many benefits for the end-user, too. By paying a subscription to any of your apps or services, you are also helping subsidize those who stay on a free plan, to some extent, anyway. Many apps are even removing free tiers for trials and not allowing any long-term free users. So, what does a paid subscription give you? It could include, but not be limited to: more frequent software updates, better features and limits, the ability to integrate with other apps and services (as these usually come with a fee), and enhanced support (since there is a budget to allow for personnel).
Here’s where things start to get muddy…
We’ve seen over the last few years a litany of lawsuits with Apple and Google. Starting in August of 2020, Epic Games (the head company for the popular game Fortnite) sued Apple and Google, challenging their App Store policies. Essentially, both Apple and Google take a cut of any app purchase, in-app purchase, or subscription to any of the apps, sometimes to the tune of 30%. Through the proceedings, a Jury decided Google had an illegal monopoly.
To be clear, I haven’t watched or read everything that happened, but I do believe Apple and Google have an argument to be made. For starters, how many apps are you using today that wouldn’t be successful as an app if not for Apple or Google? Could their success be argued because of the App Stores? Would they be as successful as a web app instead? Not to mention, it does cost Apple and Google money to keep their stores up and running. Why shouldn’t they make money on something they help create and popularize? On the other hand, they made over $10B from US App Store commissions last year.
History has also shown that larger companies carry a lot of weight with their App Store release. A great example of this is Amazon. When released, Kindle books could not be purchased through the Amazon or Kindle app. Basically, this was because Amazon didn’t want to pay Apple for this convenience. While you can’t exactly purchase a book today, there have been changes made that the Kindle app is already taking advantage of. However, Apple has always allowed the purchases of items through the Amazon app to not be subject to an in-app purchase fee.
As mentioned with Fortnite and Amazon, other major players in this debacle include Spotify, Patreon, Fortnite, Netflix, and YouTube.
Last year, A U.S. judge issued an injunction that forced Google to offer alternatives to its Google Play store for downloading apps on Android phones. Apple was hit with class action suit from developers, a new bill would force them to allow third-party app stores, too. This ‘sort of’ allows a few apps to go around the system, but can have its own issues. Especially with not being first-party downloads for safety and security.
In the Fortnite and Apple world, users have been on a roller coaster of events in the last month. First up, Epic Games launched webshops to allow developers to circumvent app store fees. Apple, still wanting its cut, appealed the decision to maintain its current App Store policies until the court decides the fate. After weeks of discussion and Fortnite app resubmissions, they both agree no court is necessary after Fortnite returns to the App Store, allowing a link to their site for purchases to bypass Apple’s in-app cut. Under this same provision, we also see that Spotify says support for external payments has already boosted subscriptions.
So, what does all this mean for you? Currently, under the policies in place, Apple will still be allowed to take its cut (12-27%) of all in-app purchases and subscriptions. However, if purchased through the app/App Store in this way, the developers have the right to charge more. If a user chooses to do this, they won’t be paying through Apple, though, so App Store gift cards wouldn’t work, for example. On the other hand, the developer may also link their own site, noting a lower price for buying directly. A true example of paying for convenience.
How do you feel about paying a premium for ease of a secure payment?
🗞️ ICYMI: Google I/O
Google I/O 2025 happened last week. You can watch the 2-hour keynote in 32 minutes, or visit their playlist on YouTube of all the things. Among the announcements, Android released Material 3 Expressive, a new UI for mobile phones and tablets. Across the lineup were adaptive apps for most of their hardware, including the new Android XR Glasses. Google’s AI, Gemini, has been supercharged with updates in deep learning, reasoning, and code, including camera and screen sharing. A new Image generation model - Imagen, and a new video generation model - Veo, can both be used in Google Flow, an AI filmmaking tool. Lastly, Google Meet now includes real-time speech translation.
🗞️ ICYMI: AI Updates
Probably the largest and most renowned AI company around, OpenAI, released a video on YouTube to announce they just dropped $6.5B to acquire Jony Ive's secretive AI hardware startup. However, this was more of an announcement about an announcement - including a new company called io. We don’t know what it is or what it looks like. We are told it won’t have a screen, and it won’t be a wearable, it will fit in your pocket or on a desk, and it won’t replace your phone. Interesting…
In other AI news, Tesla posts Optimus’ most impressive video demonstration yet, showing what the future could look like when these bots will finally do things you don’t want to do. But be careful letting them automate too much, they are still wrong a lot. As shown in a Chicago Sun-Times article that shared an AI-Generated Summer Reading List With Books That Don't Exist.
😎 POTW: Road Trip Across the US
With the summer right around the corner, many people plan road trips with school being out. One thing I really appreciate I found is the work put into Computing the optimal road trip across the U.S. Should you wish to follow all or part of that plan, here are some stops you may want to add in:
📦 Featured Product
Did you know that phones and other electronics can charge faster based on the type of charging brick used? Typically today, new phones or tables come with what’s generally known as a ‘fast charger.’ They allow your devices to charge at faster speeds - sometimes even 5 times faster. Depending on who you ask, this may range from 15-40 watts compared to the typical 3-5 watts. A question you may have is: am I really getting the speeds promised from my charging brick and/or charger (power bank, car outlet, etc)? Well, to find out, consider using a diymore USB C Power Meter Tester. This will show the volts, amps, and wattage being output from a given device. It can also be used to measure working time, consumed power, as well as the maximum voltage, maximum current, and maximum power during the entire charging process. By having it active throughout the discharge of an entire battery bank charge session, you could verify the capacity of the battery pack, too!
