Apple 'destroys dreams' says Telegram, as it shuts down monetization plans

AppleInsider

Telegram's CEO has announced that the company is canceling its monetization plans, saying it would work outside of the App Store rules, following objections from Apple.

Telegram

Pavel Durov posted on his Telegram channel on October 28 that Apple wasn't happy with the company's plan to let content creators monetize their posts that used Telegram's payment system instead of Apple's. He also called on regulators to take action.

Unfortunately, we received word from Apple that they were not happy with content creators monetizing their efforts without paying a 30% tax to Apple. Since Apple has complete control over its ecosystem, we had no alternative but to disable such paid posts on iOS devices.

This is just another example of how a trillion-dollar monopoly abuses its market dominance at the expense of millions of users who are trying to monetize their own content. I hope that the regulators in the EU, India and elsewhere start taking action before Apple destroys more dreams and crushes more entrepreneurs with a tax that is higher than any government-levied VAT.

The full message can be found on Durov's Telegram channel.

Telegram's plan

A report on Thursday had revealed Telegram's plan to let users charge others to view certain messages by way of a "donate bot" and pay-to-view service offered by a third-party.

A person noticed on Twitter that Telegram had begun quietly rolling out the feature to a few channels. Some users implemented "third-party payment bots," according to Durov, to receive close to 100% of whatever their subscribers paid.

The action goes against Apple's rules, which state that developers must use Apple's system for in-app purchases. Telegram says it will work to offer its users other ways to monetize content outside of Apple's ecosystem.

Read on AppleInsider

daalseth

This 30% Apple Tax on stuff not related to the AppleStore or Apple Servers is going to come back and bite Apple in the a**. 

ofer

DAalseth said:

This 30% Apple Tax on stuff not related to the AppleStore or Apple Servers is going to come back and bite Apple in the a**. 

Agreed!

cpsro

People complain about paying taxes but it's a far better position to be in than not owing any.

numenorean

So Apple "destroys dreams" even though it only holds 15% of the market. Maybe Telegram should have their "dreams" in the other 85% of the market. Why aren't they crying at other companies who also take 30% for their "walled gardens". 30% may be a bit steep for the in-app payment system, but obviously, users would prefer using Apple's solution than the alternative of giving their payment information to some random app they may, either on purpose or by accident, have subscribed to and their third-party payment system.

Just pondering...

racerhomie3

Millionaires complaining about billionaires,are you kidding me? Run subscriptions like you normally do, Apple gets 15% after 1st year.Or run ads,in the app ,Apple isn’t taking any of that.

anilu_777

Durov has always had a bee in his bonnet about Apple. He never mentioned Google’s 30% cut did he…

daalseth

JP234 said:

Ofer said:

DAalseth said:

This 30% Apple Tax on stuff not related to the AppleStore or Apple Servers is going to come back and bite Apple in the a**. 

Agreed

You two are about as wrong as two people can be. Here's the "Bite in the a**" Apple's Market Capitalization is suffering, in indisputable mathematics:

https://www.netcials.com/financial-marketcap-history-usa/320193-APPLE-INC/

Current Market Cap is irrelevant. This is building momentum for some really nasty laws to make Apple “open up” the platform to other stores and other things that will do irreparable harm. You’re showing me a snapshot of now, when I’m talking about in a few years when iPhones and iPads are grand central for malware, spyware, and all sorts of nastiness because Apple was a d*** about things like this. The cut from outside sales just screams arrogance and abusiveness and adds fuel to the fire.

tundraboy

No Mr. Durov, Apple is not a monopoly.  They aren't even have a majority share of the cell phone market.  People who demand that the regulators should step in because Apple charges 'too much' is exactly like car buyers asking the government to intervene because Mercedes Benz cars are 'too expensive'.

It is ridiculous to demand that a company that is not a monopoly be treated by the regulators as a monopoly just because they charge higher prices than their competitors.  As long as there is competition -and competition in the cell phone market is vicious- it is best to leave the market alone.  When there is competition, you are guaranteed to get what you paid for, no more, no less.  Apple is able to charge higher because they offer a better product than the competition.  To app developers, that better product is an installed customer base that is more lucrative than the other smartphones' customer bases. 

rorschachai

Durov is the guy who lied and claimed he had no idea why app review for a Telegram update was taking longer than usual, and then it came out that they ripped off Apple’s IP to make “animated emoji” and this had been clearly communicated to them.

Apple only has 15% marketshare. That is not a monopoly.

robin huber

Why is this Russian app on the App Store anyway? Boycott them all until they stop invading their neighbors. 

lowededwookie

Given that Telegram is a cesspool of scammers and charlatans, I’m glad that Apple’s standing their ground on this. Telegram has done nothing to stop this behaviour and now they want you to supply them with information about your credit cards etc?

Put me in support of Apple please.

9secondkox2

So telegram thinks in-app purchases are not in-app purchases? LOL

SIRECT USERS TO BROWSER AND BE DONE. 

Apple isn’t violating anything here. They know what they’re doing. Calling on regulators to hurt Apples system is self swerving. 

edited October 2022

chasm

So let me get this right, Telegram’s “dream” (which Apple has cruelly destroyed) is … <checks notes> … to charge users a fee for the right to see some messages and to take 100 percent of the profit even though it would be an in-app purchase.

Looks like the “Coalition for App Entitlement” is about to gain a new member!

igorsky

So Durov decided to give the content creators 0% of nothing rather than 70% of something?  Seems…dumb. 

edited October 2022

genovelle

DAalseth said:

This 30% Apple Tax on stuff not related to the AppleStore or Apple Servers is going to come back and bite Apple in the a**. 

It’s all related to Apple’s servers and API’s. It’s why they need Apple to begin with. Otherwise it could function on their servers and be accessed within their own secure browser. Use Apple technology marketing and 50 years of goodwill, you pay for it. Use your own and Apple will happily allow you to have a browser based app to access you servers. 

Another way of looking at it is, Apple is partnering or investing in companies of all sizes by providing them with a fully furnished worldwide store front, the tools to make their products, the warehouse to store unlimited amounts of products, the bandwidth to stream or transmit data, manage security on their apps, and possibly manage the support of those products. All of this for $99 per year ($8.25 per  month) in rent.  

The simple agreement is that if you make money from using these resources, Apple l makes money.  Currently, 15% of non-recurring purchases and subscriptions for companies making less than a million dollars per year and 30% for million+ enterprises on single purchases and first year subscriptions. These drop to 15% after that first year. 

Developers that offer a free app or invests in their own platform pay a whopping $0.

squonkbob

I sometimes dream of being Apple too, and for 30% I can take a little bite. But instead, let's force Apple to tear down those walls, and become Android! Everybody loses! What's 30% of zero??? A Shattered dream.

strangedays

oh so sad. anyway 

22july2013

Mr. Durov doesn't even have the inherent right to place apps on the Apple App store, let alone getting apps on under financial terms that he deems acceptable.

lkrupp

Anilu_777 said:

Durov has always had a bee in his bonnet about Apple. He never mentioned Google’s 30% cut did he…

Neither do the  local trolls here.

killroy

numenorean said:

So Apple "destroys dreams" even though it only holds 15% of the market. Maybe Telegram should have their "dreams" in the other 85% of the market. Why aren't they crying at other companies who also take 30% for their "walled gardens". 30% may be a bit steep for the in-app payment system, but obviously, users would prefer using Apple's solution than the alternative of giving their payment information to some random app they may, either on purpose or by accident, have subscribed to and their third-party payment system.

Just pondering...

I think Sony is 40%.