Apple Subscription Model

Apple announced that by this fall it will let nearly all iOS app makers switch to a subscription-based business model, a move that could make it easier for some small-scale developers to turn a profit but risks backlash from consumers burdened by subscription fatigue.

"Ultimately, this should lead to more apps, better apps and more innovation," Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research, said of Apple's plans.

As revealed in a pair of interviews that marketing chief Philip Schiller did with The Verge and Jon Gruber of Daring Fireball -- an unusual tactic for Apple -- the Cupertino, Calif., company will expand subscription pricing to all app categories, after previously restricting the model to just a handful: periodicals, business apps and media content services.

Apple will also reduce its cut from the current 30% of all subscriptions to 15% once a subscription has been active for a year. For each subscriber who sticks with the deal for 12 months, the developer will thus receive 85% of the subscription price, rather than 70%.