Terry Godier blogs about the growing disconnect between the traditional paid-up-front App Store and all the new features that free with in-app purchase apps get:
"Apple offers you no mechanism for what is arguably the most natural transaction in software: paying for major upgrades. The only option is to create a new app listing or to use an IAP. There’s a strong disadvantage to creating a new app listing, namely losing your accumulated reviews and visibility."
It’s a theme that reminds me of Marco Arment’s blog post from 2009, although that post was focused on cheap quick-hit apps. https://blog.terrygodier.com/2026/04/19/a-tale-of-two-app.html https://marco.org/2009/10/09/the-two-app-stores
"Apple offers you no mechanism for what is arguably the most natural transaction in software: paying for major upgrades. The only option is to create a new app listing or to use an IAP. There’s a strong disadvantage to creating a new app listing, namely losing your accumulated reviews and visibility."
It’s a theme that reminds me of Marco Arment’s blog post from 2009, although that post was focused on cheap quick-hit apps. https://blog.terrygodier.com/2026/04/19/a-tale-of-two-app.html https://marco.org/2009/10/09/the-two-app-stores