How is taking 15% or 30% of all revenue better than €0.50 per first annual install?
Perhaps this is the case inside the App Store, but it's not the case outside the App Store, where indie apps tend to be higher priced and upfront paid.
Moreover, keep in mind that the first million first annual installs have no CTF, and most indie devs will never even reach that point.
If this is the case, this is an even worse deal, due to the annual install fee. If it was one time, it wouldn't be so bad.
In any case, though, it's only 5 euros for 10 years of installs, and many indie apps have paid upgrades (which don't exist in the App Store) at least once every 5 years.
The 0.50 is probably much better if you're selling, say, a $10 app.
That's precisely what indie devs outside the Mac App Store are doing. They don't have ad-supported apps. Most of them are upfront paid, perhaps with a time-limited demo. The business models that you're talking about are a product of the App Store race to the bottom.
I think for free apps that’s a bit of a big deal?