“You download the app and it doesn’t work, that’s not what we want on the store”

There is a specific exemption for "Reader" apps like Netflix specified in the App Store Review Guidelines:

3.1.3(a) “Reader” Apps: Apps may allow a user to access previously purchased content or content subscriptions (specifically: magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video, access to professional databases, VoIP, cloud storage, and approved services such as classroom management apps), provided that you agree not to directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about other purchasing methods are not designed to discourage use of in-app purchase.

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#bus...

While not everyone may agree with these rules, they are clearly explained in the documentation. Releasing an app that does not follow these rules and then publicly complaining when your app is inevitably rejected is starting to seem more like a guerrilla marketing tactic than anything else here.

(Which is honestly pretty clever, I doubt yet-another-email-app would have gotten nearly the same amount of press coverage that this has gotten.)

Apple has the right to do whatever they want, until the courts come in and remove their rights as a private business. I don't like what Apple has been doing here, but it's their right. If you believe that the government should restrict the rights of private companies, then where does that end? This isn't regulating pollution, or regulating travel, etc. This would be regulating a business's right to charge what they want for a service whose absence will not truly harm anyone.

Now if DHH and others were arguing that Apple should reduce the price gouging from 30% to 20% or whatever they deem is reasonable, I would be completely supportive of that argument and supportive of making Apple look bad until they cave (but right now all the rhetoric I'm seeing is "Gee Apple sure is a terrible person for not giving us free stuff"). But Apple does have to pay money to host the app, provide bandwidth for downloading the app, and manage subscriptions similarly. It isn't a _lot_ of overhead, but it does exist. Plus Apple has spent years building the ecosystem, creating demand, etc. I think 10-15% is very fair, and I can see them going to 20% so that they're still making a lot of money but it maybe isn't price gouging.

Can anyone point me to high-view conversations around reducing the percentage to something reasonable? Again all I'm seeing is, "Apple is terrible, it should be free".