Apple's $100 Million 'Small Developer Assistance Fund' Surprises Developers With Payouts

Developer Dan Leveille received "a sketchy voicemail from a random number about a class action lawsuit settlement..." he posted on Twitter. "I thought it was a scam and almost ignored it."

But he didn't — and ended up with $8,064.88 in his Venmo account.


Back in 2019 a lawsuit by U.S. developers accused Apple of "profit-killing" App Store commissions, reports TechForge Media. Apple settled that suit by agreeing to create a $100 million Small Developer Assistance Fund (for developers who sold in Apple's app store between June of 2015 and April of 2021). And this month Apple has finally started sending out those payments, Apple Insider reports:

Developers had until May 20 to submit a request to an independent administrator to become a "Settlement Class Member." If they met the criteria, the developers stood to receive a payment from $250 to $30,000 in value....

Along with the fund, the settlement also introduced a number of changes to App Store policies, including modifications relating to customer and developer communication, new pricing tiers, and a promise by Apple to continue offering its 15% reduced App Store commission for at least three years.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.