Apple hikes in-app purchase prices 40% in a year due to THIS reason

The average price of in-app purchases (IAPs) on the iOS App Store has increased 40 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in July (likely due to privacy changes), while it was mere 9 per cent on Google Play store.

According to data from app intelligence firm Apptopia, with the consumer price index up 8.5 per cent YoY in the US, people are seeing prices rise almost everywhere. 

"The rise on iOS comes much before inflation (not the case for Google Play) hit hard in 2022, indicating publishers may actually be reacting to increased effective cost per install (eCPI) due to Apple`s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policies making it more expensive to acquire users," said the Apptopia report.

It turns out that single-purchase IAPs increased much more than IAPs for monthly or annual purchases (maybe full year access to Headspace). 

Average pricing of iOS single purchase IAPs rose 36 per cent in July while annual and monthly IAPs increased only 19 per cent. 

"Publishers are trying to present a value and hook customers for longer to cut down on acquisition costs," said Adam Blacker, VP, Insights.

Some categories averaged higher price increases than others, with Books showing up on the top 5 list for both iOS and Google Play. 

On the App Store, the high was navigation at 88 per cent and the low was social networking at -2 per cent. 

On Google Play, the high was food and drink at 50 per cent and the low was weather at -14 per cent.