U.S. iOS Developers: Apple May Owe You Money

Check your mail for this post card from Apple.

I was sorting my mail and almost threw out the above postcard into the junk mail pile. When I noticed that it was made out to one of my first startups, iReadandLearn.com where I made apps for children. I must have made hundreds of dollars from this endeavor (yes, I know). Anyway, I followed the instructions on the card and went to?https://smallappdeveloperassistance.com/ and followed the directions and entered my Claim ID and Confirmation Code and found that I was eligible for $250. Whoa. Free money! Cash payouts range from $250-$30,000.

I was wondering why a post card wasn’t sent to Apptology where I literally have published hundreds of apps. There was an option on the claim site to submit a claim if there was no card sent. I entered Apptology’s information and after submitting it, found that it was not eligible for a claim.

Puzzled, I went through the fine print:

You may be included in this settlement and entitled to receive a payment if you are or were a U.S. developer of any Apple iOS application or in-app product (including subscriptions) that:

1. Was sold for a non-zero price;
2. Was sold via Apple’s iOS App Store between 2015 and 2021; and
3. Earned, together with any other iOS applications or in-app products (including subscriptions) sold through all of your associated developer accounts, proceeds equal to or less than $1,000,000.00 through the App Store U.S. storefront in every calendar year from 2015 to 2021 in which you had a developer account.

Ah. So Non-zero price means that the apps can’t be a free app. Sadly, all the apps Apptology published were free apps. Oh well, I’ll take what I got.

This was a result of a class action lawsuit?Cameron et al v. Apple Inc?where:

A settlement has been reached with Apple Inc. (“Apple”) in an antitrust class action lawsuit brought by U.S. app developers about Apple’s App Store. The lawsuit alleged that Apple monopolized (or attempted to monopolize) an alleged iOS app and in-app product distribution services market in violation of U.S. antitrust and California unfair competition laws. Apple denies all allegations and the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by Apple.

Bravo to Donald Cameron who took on Apple with this class action lawsuit. Prior to this, Apple took 30% of all proceeds from App Sales. Now it’s been reduced to 15%. So, for my fellow Apple Developers, you have until May 20, 2022 (yes, days from now) to submit a claim. The URL again is?https://smallappdeveloperassistance.com. Good luck!