As early as August 2021, apple agreed to pay $100million and modify the app store to solve the class action lawsuit brought by developers against it Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who was in charge of supervising the case, said yesterday that she planned to approve the settlement agreement, but she was worried about the amount the lawyer planned to charge
Rogers said she would like more "mathematical" data about the $27million legal fees requested and that the fees would reduce the claims of small developers. She asked for a mathematical analysis. If she made a judgment of $25million in legal fees instead of $27million, how much less each group member would get.
Rogers pointed out that for some developers, the difference may be very large, which is why she wants to "see the numbers". As early as March, apple pointed out that the cost of $27million was higher than the 25% benchmark set by the Ninth Circuit Court.
Apple called the settlement the small developer assistance fund and began accepting claims from developers in January. Developers can submit claims through the website before May 20, and Apple also provides some reminders. It is reported that developers can apply for compensation ranging from $250 to $30000 according to their historical participation in the app store.
There are about 67000 qualified developers. Developers earning less than $100 will receive a minimum payment of $250, while developers earning more than $1million will be entitled to higher end payments. The minimum payment may vary depending on the total number of claims.
This settlement stems from a lawsuit in 2019. A group of IOS developers accused apple of using its monopoly position in the app store to forcibly collect "profit killing" commissions. Developers are dissatisfied with Apple's 30% commission from the sales of the app store. This problem has been solved in the app store small enterprise plan. It is reported that the plan reduces the commission that small developers must pay to 15%.
In addition to paying a settlement fee of $100, Apple also agreed to allow developers to share information about payment methods other than the app store by using e-mail and other communication means. In addition, Apple also expanded the number of price points that developers can subscribe to.
Apple also promised to maintain the app store small business plan and app store search - without any change for at least three years. The company also created an annual transparency report based on the data of the app store, which covers app rejection, apps deleted from the app store, search information, etc.
The small developer assistance fund website says it plans to release funds to developers who submit timely and effective claims as soon as possible.