Apple has announced the third provider that wants to start its own “Alternative App Marketplace” in the EU according to the new App Store rules. After the Ukrainian-Irish provider Setapp had already registered (and Epic Games also wants to get involved), the Cologne app developer Mobivention is now joining in. The company said in a statement that it wanted to open “a new chapter for iOS apps”. The “Mobivention App marketplace” will be available as soon as the EU Commission’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) comes into force on March 7th.
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The special feature: Mobivention directly addresses business customers who want to distribute apps themselves – either internally or to end customers. “The Mobivention App Marketplace is primarily aimed at corporate customers who are looking for an alternative solution for distributing their apps.”
Help from Apple in Cork
Mobivention works as an IT service provider that specializes in app and web development. The company creates concepts and UI/UX designs and offers corresponding services. This also includes progressive web apps, which Apple briefly wanted to remove from the iPhone in the EU. The new marketplace is said to have been created “in close collaboration with Apple”. The team from Cologne went to Apple's “Coding Lab” in Cork. Like all other alternative app stores, there will be a dedicated app through which users can find, install and pay for applications.
“The advantages of the Mobivention App Marketplace include simplified rules for publishing apps, alternative billing models, a reduced share of sales for in-app purchases and the ability to integrate alternative payment solutions,” writes the company. “With extensive experience in developing iOS apps and alternative distribution methods,” the company is “ideally positioned” to “serve this market and open up new opportunities for companies.” The first prices were also communicated.
Requirements for developers
The prerequisite for using the Mobivention offer is an Apple developer account. The company offers four different versions, starting at 99 euros per month for a marketplace app and an app sold through it. The set-up fees are 950 euros. However, this only includes 100 downloads of the Marketplace app and 1000 downloads of apps – each per month.
The most expensive package with unlimited downloads costs 1,750 euros per month plus 9,950 euros set-up.
(bsc)