Apple has announced the biggest improvement to its App Store pricing feature with the addition of 700 new price points.
On this issue, which directly concerns application developers, Apple elaborates on the following: conveyed: “Apple today announced the most extensive improvement to pricing features since the App Store launch. This innovation provides developers with 700 additional price points, as well as new pricing tools that make it easy to set prices by App Store country or region, manage currency-based changes, and more.
Since its launch, the App Store has a world-class commerce and payment system, allowing developers to easily organize and sell their products and services on a global scale. The commerce and payment system in the App Store provides developers with ever-evolving features and tools to grow their business. These features and tools range from seamless payment and transparent invoicing for users to powerful marketing tools, fraud prevention and tax services, and refund management.
The pricing functionality that underpins these features allows developers to choose from a variety of business models, such as one-time purchases and multiple subscription types. These new improvements to the pricing feature will be available for apps that offer auto-renewable subscription options starting today. In the spring of 2023, these features will be available for all other apps and in-app purchases. With these innovations, all developers will have unparalleled flexibility and control to price their products across 175 store platforms and 45 currencies.
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The updated App Store pricing system allows all developers to choose from 900 price points. That’s almost 10 times the number of price points previously offered for most apps. In this context, there are 600 new price points to choose from and an extra 100 higher price points available on demand. To provide even more flexibility to developers around the world, a wider selection will be made available for price points starting at a minimum of $0.29 and up to $10,000 on demand. Price points will increase exponentially within price ranges (For example, every $0.10 up to $10, every $0.50 from $10 to $50, etc.).
On each of the 175 store platforms in the App Store, developers will be able to take advantage of extra pricing rules, including prices that start in cascading digits (e.g. 110,000 won). They will also be able to give round prices (eg X.00 or X.90) without using fractions such as 0.99 USD or X.99 Euros in product prices. This feature will provide more convenience in managing packages and annual plans.
Starting today, developers of subscription apps will also be able to more easily manage currencies and tax rates across store platforms, by choosing the local store platform they know best to use as a basis for automatic generation of prices among 174 other store platforms and 44 currencies. Developers will be able to continue to define prices based on the store platform whenever they want. Pricing by store platform will be expanded to cover all other apps in the spring of 2023.
Global equalization tools in the App Store offer developers publishing their apps worldwide an easy and convenient way to manage prices in international markets. Today’s enhancements expand these features even further, allowing developers to keep local currencies fixed in all storefronts of their choice, even as exchange rates and tax rates change. For example, a Japanese game developer that sells predominantly to Japanese customers will be able to set its price according to the Japanese store window, allowing prices outside its home country to be updated as exchange rates and tax rates change. In addition, all developers will be able to determine the availability of in-app purchases based on the storefront.
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Apple regularly updates its prices based on changes in tax rates and exchange rates in certain regions. Prices are updated using publicly available exchange rate information from financial data providers to ensure in-app purchase prices are kept in sync across all storefronts. Developers can now adjust pricing at any time to respond to tax rate and exchange rate changes. From 2023, developers with paid apps and in-app purchases will be able to set local and regional prices. These prices will not be affected by automatic price adjustments.
These newly introduced vehicles will be rolled out gradually throughout 2023, starting today. Thanks to these tools, developers who have more flexibility in determining the price of their products will continue to be accessible to millions of users that Apple serves all over the world, and will continue to achieve success thanks to the App Store.