Apple and iOS fees

Wanted to make a post to keep ya'll in the know. Tl;dr, this specifically will affect iOS users come November, and only new subscriptions.

Quick Summary:

• Apple is enforcing iOS fees for new subscriptions come November. This affects the Patreon iOS app.

• Existing users should be unaffected by these fees. New subscriptions will be affected only if they're made over the iOS app

• All pages are being moved to cyclical billing cycles, rather than first-of-month, when these changes go live in November. New users will be charged the same day every month; existing ones are already set to charge the 1st of each month.

Full post:

So, come November, Apple is enacting a change on any apps on their platform; you might've seen the news. For iOS users, come November, payments will need to go through the Apple store, which incurs a +30% fee on each transaction. (This is what Epic was trying to contest a while back, and basically lost their lawsuit over.)

Apple is also removing payment options to try and force everything through their in-App purchases, so I dunno if a workaround like using a mobile browser to pay will work. (If it doesn't that feels more illegal than this ridiculous surcharge.)

This only will affect new iOS users. Existing ones (which I don't think there are many to be fair) will not be subject to this price change allegedly. iOS is already anti-NSFW so I don't feel like there are many iPhone users here.

For creators, however, we are going to be switched over to the Subscription model if we haven't already, rather than billing the first of every month. Again, this will not affect existing subs, since you're already synced to the first of the month, however new subs will be charged cyclically on the same day of every month instead. This affects me more than anything, and is not a change I'm fan of, but it's not something unmanageable (Substar is already on this format). It does screw with some scheduling things on my end; I'll maintain the polls at the end of the month, monthly archive updates, etc.

I believe Patreon is operating in good faith with this, just given my interaction over the situation in their Discord server (and their very clear frustration and dissatisfaction with Apple). That said, these changes are still kinda shitty.

So to recap everything

After November 2024:

• New iOS subscriptions will have a +30% surcharge. This also applies to people who change subs. Old ones will be unaffected. iOS users should sign up via other mediums, such as via a computer, or their mobile browser (if that will even work.)

• New member subscriptions in general will be cyclical on the day they sign up or are changed. Old ones will still be charged the first of every month. E.g. if you sign up on the 15th, you have access until the 14th of next month.

• Existing patrons will not see any changes. Sign ups on platforms other than iOS will only see a change of when they get charged, no fee changes.

I want to remind people that I have a SubscribeStar as well as an alternative to Patreon as well. All my content here is also posted to Substar at the same time. If you're ever unhappy with Patreon specifically, but wish to support me still and get access to the same perks, SS is an option. (This is also present in the event Patreon ever goes nuclear and tries to ban adult content entirely. I don't think that's likely to happen, but it definitely feels like there's more of a chance than there was 5 years ago.)