Regarding the Unavailability of My Apps: A Sincere Apology

By quanchi, 17 June, 2026

Forum

iOS and iPadOS

Hello everyone, I'm the developer of the 2 apps Shift The Disks and Blind Cube.

I was supposed to renew my Apple developer account earlier this month, but I couldn't. The reason is that I do have a lot of bills to pay this month and so I wasn't able to put some money on the side for the renewal of the account. I have expensive hospital bills to pay this month and last month as well

As a result, Apple has removed both of the apps from the Appstore. I genuinely didn't intend for this to happen. I looked at my account the other day and found that it was extended for one more month, meaning that it's valid until early July, but it was only by accident today that I discovered that they removed the apps the day the subscription expired.

I did a bit of searching and it turns out the extension is really just for me to access my stuff and not for the apps visibility on the Appstore.

I knew that not paying the subscription will get my apps removed, but I saw the extension and thought that everything is fine when it was not.

I sincerely apologize for what happened and the apps will go back in approximately 2 weeks from now.

If you already have them downloaded, I think you can still access them no problem. The apps however aren't available on the Appstore so you can't search for them and buy or redownload them.

I will update the topic again when the apps are back on the Appstore. Thank you for your understanding.

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Comments

How Much is the Subscription?

If you aren't charging a small amount for your apps, I hope you will consider doing so...

Re: How Much is the Subscription?

As a developer, you have to pay $99 to Apple yearly to keep your developer account active.
Failing to pay that will lead to your apps getting removed from the Appstore like what's happening in this case.

On top of that, they take 30% cut from what you make. App purchases, in-app purchases, all of it.
15% if you register in their small business program. But still, that's a lot since you have to pay $99 either way even if you make 0 sales and even if your apps are totally free.

I'm charging $2.99 for each of my apps, but as you can see, it's really not profitable in the long term.
Because apps slowly sell less copies over time.

Should be illegal

Ya know this is probably why epic games has been in a lawsuit with apple for years. I was thinking about getting into mobile game development but decided against it because of how greedy apple's development tax is. I could understand this for a large company or even a small to medium sized company but taking 30 percent of sails for all developers and forcing all developers to pay is just wrong. If you make an app free with no in app purchases apple shouldn't charge you. At least google only requires 30 bucks a year. But they also take a 30 percent cut. That's why the epic games lawsuit is such a big deal because it forced apple to allow external payment processors outside the app store in apps. I don't think the 99 bucks a year tax will go away but at least there's a way around the apple robbery of 30 percent of your money.

Not everyone can sideload apps though.

Not everyone has access to third-party app stores. Glad I have already bought Shift the Disks. By the way, making the app free and add-supported while offering the purchase as an optional thing rather than making the app itself paid could be a better approach for devs and users alike.

Voluntary donations

Your game is genuinely one of only a few of the dozens of games I have on my phone, which I actually play. Some developers include a “buy me a beer“ or “buy me a coffee“ button in their app. that way comma those who can afford it and who really appreciate your time and effort can make additional donations as and when they wish. I am happy to donate five dollars if you tell me how I can provide itperhaps by PayPal?

I didn't know you

But reading the description made me want to support you if I can with donations too. Let us know.

Re: Should be illegal

I think Google only charges $25 and it's a one time payment, not a yearly thing.

That's what I was thinking regarding Apple's model. It does seem like it's made for companies and not for individual developers.

EU

Now you know exactly why Apple does the absolute bare minimum to comply with EU regulations. The App Store is a huge revenue stream for them.
I'd also recommend adding donation purchases, adjusting them to compensate for the 30% cut on every sale. Lots of things Apple does should be illegal and immoral in a sane society, but we don't live in a perfect world, and Apple is technically allowed to do whatever they want. The best we can do is not purchase their products.