Developers

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Where are the Safari 14 WebExtensions?

Andrew Orr ·

In 2020 Apple announced it would support browser extensions that used the WebExtensions API. But as Jason Snell points out, we haven’t seen many yet. One developer listed possible barriers for entry:

Limited time, lack of access to Apple hardware, unfamiliarity with Apple’s developer tools, Safari’s incompatibility with some existing extension-development tools, and the requirement to make some code changes in order to fit inside Apple’s security model.

I think another barrier is probably the US$99/year developer program fee. It makes sense if you’re already in the program to build an extension if it makes sense for you, but I don’t think many outside of the program will pay that just to release a new extension. Then again, it’s still in the early days of this new support.

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Apple’s 85/15 Subscription Split Doesn’t Help Developers Much

Andrew Orr ·

Unlike Apple’s 70/30 split for in-app purchases, it offers an 85/15 split for subscriptions from customers that stay subscribed for at least a year. But Jacob Eiting writes how that doesn’t really help developers because of subscriber churn.

No matter how great an app is, subscribers are going to churn. Sometimes it’s because of a credit card expiring or some other billing issue. And sometimes it’s more of a pause, and the user comes back after a few months. But the majority of churn comes from subscribers who, for whatever reason, decide that the app just isn’t worth paying for anymore. If a subscriber churns before the 1-year mark, the developer never sees that 85% split. And even if the user resubscribes, Apple and Google reset the clock if a subscription has lapsed for more than 60 days.

Cool Stuff Found

App Store Connect 1.5 Update Brings New Icon, TestFlight

Andrew Orr ·

The App Store Connect 1.5 update brings a new icon that uses design language from macOS Big Sur. It also lets developers set up internal TestFlight beta testing and more. Release Notes: Add up to 100 members of your team to test beta builds of your app; edit test details for beta builds, view build activity and status, and expire builds; answer required export compliance questions; remove internal testers.

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This Developer Made Over $100k Selling Custom App Icons

Andrew Orr ·

Developer “Traf” wrote a blog post saying he made over US$100,000 in six days selling custom app icons that can be used on iOS 14.

As soon as I noticed the hype, I put together some icons in my own style, downloaded some widgets, and tried it all out. I thought it looked cool, so I shared a screenshot of it on Twitter. Right away, people started asking about the icons in the screenshot. So I quickly packaged them, uploaded them to Gumroad, and embedded them on a Notion site using Super. All of this took about two hours.

It’s cool to see all of the customization people are doing on iOS 14, but I wonder if this developer could get into legal trouble by making money off of companies’ icons.

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Some Developers Use TestFlight as an Unofficial App Store

Andrew Orr ·

Writing for Protocol, David Pierce shares stories from developers who use TestFlight as an unofficial App Store.

TestFlight is not an alternative to the App Store, it’s a staging ground on the way there. Developers told me Apple doesn’t review TestFlight apps very intensively, other than to make sure they’re not fundamentally broken or obviously malicious. And if Apple’s already reviewed, say, version 1.0 of your app, they say it won’t even look at 1.0.1. It doesn’t think of TestFlight as a long-term home for apps.

A cool, clever workaround to the App Store’s strict rules.