Apple Demands 30% Cut on Donations Received by Popular Meditation App

Apple is insistent on making the Insight Timer meditation app pay a 30% charge from the donations that were sent to instructors.

Previously, Apple allowed the meditation app to use its own Stripe-based in-app purchase system for a year to bypass the 30% service charge for donations.

Apple Reverses Decision, Demands 30% Donation Cut

Insight Timer has been using Stripe since 2022, allowing users to send tips to their teachers without paying the 30% commission to Apple for a year.

The App Store Guidelines state that individual users are allowed to send monetary gifts without using in-app purchases as long as it's optional and 100% of the funds will go to the receiver of the gift. However, if the gift is associated with receiving digital content it will be considered as an in-app purchase.

Insight Timer has been offering its users optional digital donations for teachers in the form of "tips" from their user profiles and during live events. The feature was reviewed and approved by Apple but the tech giant had a change of heart.

Insight Timer CEO Christopher Plowman stated that Apple is now collecting a commission for the tips, citing that the company flagged the feature as digital content and must abide by the in-app purchase guidelines. The meditation company also shared that it has a choice to either comply or have its iOS business shut down.

Apple's Decision to Affect Insight Timer Instructors

The business model of Insight Timer is based on subscription, hence, the total revenue of the company will not be affected by Apple's sudden decision.

However, the 30% service charge for tips will have a big impact on the app's teachers. "If I'm a teacher on Insight Timer . . . why do I have to pay the 30% fee?" the CEO asked.

Despite the frustration with the reversal, Plowman explained that he chose not to fight Apple. Instead, the CEO called out the regulators for not stepping in.

In 2023, Insight Timer generated $20 million in its subscription revenue, with 30% of that having been paid to Apple, per the commission guidelines.