In a recent blog post and email to creators, Patreon announced a 16-month-long migration process to Apple's in-app purchase system, set to be completed by November 2025.

Creators are also forced to switch to subscription billing by November 2024, with the unenviable choice of either hiking their membership fees to cover Apple's hefty commission or absorbing the cost themselves.

Creators can delay this migration until November 2025, but at a significant cost: they won't be able to offer memberships in the iOS app until they comply with Apple's draconian rules, which come into effect this November.

This latest diktat from Apple is yet another example of its capricious application of App Store rules.

Critics, including Fortnite maker Epic Games, have long accused Apple of uneven enforcement. Although Epic essentially lost its antitrust lawsuit against Apple, the court ruled that Apple must allow links to other payment options inside apps.

Apple now permits developers to promote subscriptions via links to a website, but with a reduced commission of 27 per cent instead of the standard 30 per cent, or 12 per cent instead of 15 per cent for auto-renewing subscriptions in the second year. However, Apple's compliance with this injunction is still contested in court.

Patreon has long existed in a grey area, with some subscription-based offerings available in its app and others not. This ambiguity was partly because many users discovered creators through other channels, as Patreon CEO Jack Conte explained in 2021.

 Despite not having a special contract with Apple, Patreon evaded Apple's in-app billing requirements for a while.

Now, Patreon is clearly disgruntled with Apple's heavy-handed tactics. It tells creators that neither of the options presented—raising subscription prices or absorbing the cost—is "ideal."

"Most creators on Patreon use subscription billing," Patreon’s blog post notes. "Over the past few years, we’ve slowly rolled it out, tackling each hurdle that has come up to ensure that the migration is not disruptive for creators. That’s the way we like to roll out products. Unfortunately, we can’t continue to do it this way because of Apple's timelines and constraints. Instead of helping creators move to subscription billing if and when they feel like it’s right for them, we’re now forced to migrate all creators on Apple’s timeline."

Patreon also reminded creators that Apple’s fees only apply to the iOS app, and they can continue to offer the same prices on the web and Android. It advised creators to direct their fans to a Help Center article explaining iOS fees so subscribers "can better understand the implications of where they choose to make their purchases."