Apple announces App Store changes in the EU

    Developers who opt for tier one will get access to a limited set of mandatory App Store services, including:
    * App distribution and delivery
    * Trust and safety features
    * App management
    [...]
    Developers who opt for tier two will get access to all services provided by the App Store today.

Am I wrong or does it seem like apps in "tier 1" won't even have access to app notification delivery? That's wild...

Here are the new tiers: https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/reference...

The document says manual updates are included but not automatic updates (which is just a setting in the App Store that I personally disable).

Whether there will be update notifications is unclear. Is that what you meant by "app notification delivery", or something else?

As an App Store developer myself, I would love to have Tier 1 in the United States, mainly due to no user ratings and reviews. I hate them, and I hate trying to solicit them. As far as I'm concerned, ditching ratings & reviews would be a bonus!

"No user ratings and reviews" - that just means you rank last in app store search, right?

Apple will do whatever they can to ensure that developers that don't pay will suffer the costs.

I swear there must be somebody properly petty in higher management of apple to keep coming with these childish moves that harm image of the company as some sort of serious reliable manufacturer.

I guess to each their own

Yep, I have been a Mac user since 2007 and iPhone user since 2009. But all the malicious compliance and pettiness has me looking at alternatives (at least for iPhone, since it has good alternatives).

I don't recognize the fun, playful Apple of the 00s and early 10s anymore. Its soul has been replaced.