Apple VP talks about App Store and diversity ahead of WWDC

Susan Prescott became known for her role as vice president of developer relations at Apple. Over the past few years, she has appeared during some of the company’s keynotes. In an interview with The Independent, Prescott discussed the importance of the App Store and even teased “new ways to connect with Apple” coming at WWDC 2023.

App Store, diversity, and small developers

According to the executive, the App Store plays a crucial role not only in promoting small developers, but also the work of “historically underrepresented groups, including women.” Prescott argued that Apple has multiple projects to ensure support and visibility for these groups of people.

One of these is the App Store Foundations, which provides developers with additional support to help create even better apps. Speaking to a group of female founders who participated in the program, Prescott noted that it helps increase diversity and inclusion in the App Store.

“I’m actually sort of quietly confident a positive for the future that actually it will be normal for girls to go into tech,” the executive said during the event. “Because no one’s been trying to solve these problems for a really long time,” she added.

Luna co-founder Jo Goodall, who was also at the event, praised the App Store editorial team for promoting apps from small developers. “It’s the kind of exposure that we could never pay for,” she said. “I think just having those moments on the App Store, really, really helps.”

Antitrust concerns

But of course, Apple is facing a lot of criticism because of how the company forces developers to follow strict rules in order to publish their apps on the App Store. When asked about this, Prescott reinforced the existence of the Small Business Program, which allows developers to qualify for a commission rate of 15% instead of 30% if they earn up to $1 million.

Without much detail, Prescott promised that the company will announce “new features, new capabilities, new ways to connect with Apple, new ways to get answers” at WWDC 2023, which will take place in June.

A new law in Europe may force Apple to let developers distribute iOS apps outside the App Store. According to rumors, Apple might announce this change starting with iOS 17 later this year – but only for European countries.

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