Distributing your mobile app to the app stores is exciting and complicated. With Tech Upstairs, you don’t have to worry about a vast majority of it, but like most things, it has changed. Gone are the days where a service provider (like Tech Upstairs) could develop apps and publish them in the app stores without the clients having to pay separately for a developer account. Now, both Apple and Google require that you have your own developer account (at a cost of course). Now this does not mean you have to actually “develop” your own apps, but it does mean they have to be published under your specific developer account. The app stores charge fees for a developer account with them and this is separate from any charges from Tech Upstairs (Tech Upstairs does not get any portion of the developer costs).
Google charges a one-time $25 fee for a developer account on Google Play. Apple on the other hand does it differently. An Apple developer account costs $99 annually. For both stores, you can distribute free apps at not cost, any paid apps the stores take 30% of the revenue.
Though this does add an extra expense, it’s not necessarly a “bad” thing. We’ll tell you why. Developer accounts are like any other account and that is they are monitored. Not following the terms and conditions or repeated offenses, or even lack of payment due to a credit card could render your app (and any other app under that account) unavailable to users and it would be totally out of your control. This in addition to the fact that the stores will reject apps that use logos for another company (which could be a copyright issue) will ensure that you keep control of your brand.
To summarize, having a developer account turns out to be the best for you, your app, and your business!