The 30 Percent App Fees Are Too Damn High

Some fees are hard-wired into our life. People tip 15 percent to 20 percent at U.S. restaurants. Hedge funds have long charged a 2 percent management fee plus 20 percent of investment gains. And Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. take a 30 percent cut when someone buys a virtual lollipop hammer in Candy Crush or signs up for an online HBO subscription through their smartphone app stores.

Since Apple started its App Store in 2008, companies including Spotify Technology SA and Amazon.com Inc. have railed against the company for, they say, taking unfairly high commissions. The backlash is growing. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in November from a group of iPhone owners trying to sue Apple for creating a monopoly with the App Store and driving up app prices. (Apple argues that because developers pay the fees, consumers don’t have standing.)