Are you a YouTube Premium user? You might pay more than you should if you subscribed through the Apple App Store.

Apple charges 15-30% more for in-app purchases and subscription fees like YouTube Premium
This is called the “Apple tax”.
Third-party developers have protested this, primarily Fortnite founder Epic Games.

The Apple App Store is a one-stop shop for all your needs. This makes subscribing to third-party services much easier and you can manage your subscriptions from one place right on your iPhone. That said, subscribing to platforms through Apple comes with a small but costly cost.

If you subscribe to top streaming services like YouTube Premium through the App Store, you may not know that it could cost you a lot more than if you signed up through YouTube itself – and it all depends on the App Store fees.

For example, if you sign up for the standard tier of YouTube Premium through its website, it would cost $15.99/£12.99/AU$22.99 per month, but if you sign up through the App Store, that monthly price becomes slightly more expensive ($20.99/£16.99/AU$23.99).

Two words; Apple tax

Apple doesn’t just make bank by selling its vast array of smartphones, laptops, and other devices; its App Store created another revenue stream for the tech giant, now often referred to as the “Apple tax.”

Since Apple charges developers to implement alternative payment systems that are not Apple Pay, these developers will increase monthly subscription costs by approximately 15-30%, charging you more per month for simply subscribing to platforms through the App Store to avoid paying these fees. This doesn’t just apply to monthly subscriptions; Apple applies this tax to most of its digital goods and in-app purchases.

Today, Apple has been doing this since launching the App Store on iPhone about 18 years ago, leading to a protest against the tax – mainly from Epic Games, the founding company of Fornite.

In 2020, Epic Games began its protest against Apple’s App Store fees by implementing its own direct payment system in iOS. As a result, Apple booted Epic’s developer accounts and removed Fortnite, but it didn’t stop there.

Epic Games countered by arguing that Apple decided to remove Epic’s developer accounts because it considered Epic Games a threat to its ecosystem. Fortnite was later re-listed on the App Store after a five-year absence, but the dispute remains unresolved. As it stands, the United States Supreme Court has decided to hear Apple’s contempt appeal in the ongoing lawsuit with Epic Games. This will begin during the Supreme Court’s next term, which begins in October.

For most of you familiar with Apple’s ways, the App Store fees probably won’t surprise you, but for the average user who relies on their Apple device to make digital purchases more convenient, they may not be as aware of the pitfall and are still blindsided by the Apple tax.

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