Apple Develop App Prices On App Store Starting Today

JAKARTA - Apple will for the first time raise app prices on the App Store since its launch a few years ago. Developers will get 700 additional price points for their apps, with the total number of available new price points to 900 points.

So the price for in-app purchases, or subscriptions, will be worth as low as US$0.29 (Rp4.5 million) or as high as US$10,000 (Rp156 million), and with the ending being rounded up (like US$1.00), not just US$0.99.

Developers looking to price their apps above $1,000 (Rp15 million) have to submit a request to Apple to help prevent meaningless expensive apps from being released on the App Store.

Reported by Mashable, Thursday, December 8, Apple also makes it easier for developers to manage changes in foreign currency exchange rates, where they can choose the storefront as the basis for automatically generating prices in 174 other App Store store store windows and 44 currencies.

For example, the company says Japanese game developers who receive most of their businesses from Japanese customers can set prices for Japanese storefronts, and update their prices overseas automatically as foreign currency exchange rates and taxes change around the world. Developers can still specify price per storefront if desired.

Apple said new price points and foreign currency exchange rate management options will be available for apps offering subscriptions and can be automatically updated starting today, as well as for all other apps as well as in-app purchases next year.

For information, Apple updates prices regularly in certain App Store areas based on changes in foreign currency exchange rates and taxes.

Starting in 2023, the company says developers with paid apps and in-app purchases will be able to set local regional prices, which will not be affected by automatic price adjustments since then and beyond.

According to TechCrunch, a new pricing policy comes as lawmakers and regulators around the world are examining Apple's App Store for suspicions of anti-competitive practices.

In the US, for example, the Department of Justice is working to file an antitrust lawsuit against the company and even testified at Epic Games vs. Apple's appeal to inform judges of how lower courts have misunderstood antitrust laws when making their rulings.