In late 2022, initial payments for the Small Developer Assistance Fund started going out, with each eligible US developer receiving at least $1000 – up to 4x the projected minimum payout. A second round of payouts begun toward the end of 2023, and now the third and final round of payments started going out this week.
Previous payouts
As part of a settlement agreement, Apple established the Small Developer Assistance Fund in 2021. It offered payouts of $250 to $30,000 to any developer who had paid any commission to Apple between June 4, 2015 and April 26, 2021. The total settlement was over $100,000,000, benefiting over 99% of US app developers.
The payment tiers broke down as follows:
- Under $100 in annual App Store proceeds: $250 minimum payout
- $100-$1,000 in annual App Store proceeds: $500 minimum payout
- $1,000-$5,000 in annual App Store proceeds: $1,000 minimum payout
- $5,000-$10,000 in annual App Store proceeds: $1,500 minimum payout
- $10,000-$50,000 in annual App Store proceeds: $2,000 minimum payout
- $50,000-$100,000 in annual App Store proceeds: $3,500 minimum payout
- $100,000-$250,000 in annual App Store proceeds: $5,000 minimum payout
- $250,000-$500,000 in annual App Store proceeds: $10,000 minimum payout
- $500,000-$1,000,000 in annual App Store proceeds: $20,000 minimum payout
- Over $1,000,000 in annual App Store proceeds: $30,000 minimum payout
With the initial round of payouts in October 2022, since fewer people filed than anticipated – the payouts ended up being roughly 4x the minimum payout. That means for some developers, the settlement payout exceeded what they actually would’ve earned. For example, developers in the $100-1000 annual income tier received a settlement check exceeding $2000.
In late 2023, a second round of payouts went out, distributing any unclaimed funds from developers who were unable to provide a valid tax identification number. That payout was $17 for those who earned under $100, and $34 for those who earned under $1000. If you wish, you can do the math to figure out what that payout meant for each tier. The max payout here was around ~$2040.
Final payout
Starting this week, developers begun receiving checks, E-MasterCards, and PayPal payments for the third and final payout from the Small Developer Assistance Fund. It was in the amount of $20.19 for those who earned under $100, and $40.39 for those who earned under $1000. That means payouts presumably go as high as ~$2422 for those developers who earned over $1,000,000 a year.
So, if you’re an indie app developer who participated in this class action settlement – keep an eye on your mailbox! These checks will be void on April 21st, 2025.
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