Questions About Joining the Apple Developer Program
Whether you are a seasoned business-veteran or brand new entrepreneur, if you’re going into Apple’s development world, there are some key legal tidbits you need to know. From the inquiries I receive and the traffic this topic brings to the site, I know that Apple’s Developer Program raises a lot of questions. I’ll try to answer the most prevalent here. These answers are based on my personal experience and reflect the laws of my state and country: Virginia, USA. Please do not take this as legal advice. I’m only sharing what I have learned from my own experience.
If I don’t get to your specific question, drop me a comment. I try to personally respond as much as possible. Here’s the top 4 questions I have heard:
Do you need an LLC to be in the Developer Program?
Short answer: No. Apple does not require you to create an LLC in order to enroll into their programs. If you are applying to the Individual Developer program, you do not need any form of incorporation. All you need is a valid credit card. Your tax information for any money earned will go through your social security number as personal income.
If you are applying for the Company program, you will need to prove to Apple that you are able to legally enter into binding contracts. This means you will need to be defined as a business through your state. Usually, this entails incorporating, licensing, creating an LLC or a DBA. Check your local laws.
What’s the difference between the Individual and Company Developer Programs?
The Individual Developer Program is designed for those who will be creating an app strictly on their own. This doesn’t mean you can’t outsource help, but it implies that only one person will have access to iTunes Connect. Remember, iTunes Connect is the on-line interface used to submit and track your apps. If you choose an Individual program, only that individual will have access to the app development process.
The Company Developer Program is much more flexible for those wanting to work with a team. You will be given administrator rights to an iTunes Connect account. You will then be able to enlist team members for various roles. If you are going to outsource the actual coding of your app, for example, you will be able to invite a coder who then has access to those tools in iTunes Connect. You can restrict certain access to the various roles, according to your needs.
How long does it take to become a Developer?
I can only reference my personal experience. From the time I submitted my application, it took 6 business days to become verified. I was told by Apple that having all the required LLC information helps speed processing. What ever you can do to make it easier for Apple to identify you as a legal business agent will be time well spent. I have heard horror stories of businesses who, because of some clerical errors, were delayed months in the verification process. When you apply, take the time to make sure all your submitted information is correct.
If you are applying for the individual program, I hear the verification process is near-immediate.
What are the costs?
The costs for starting a business vary greatly from state to state. In Virginia, it costs $99 to file an LLC. (This does not include the costs of having that paper work done… That was another $99) Once you are set up as a legal business, however, the costs for joining the Individual or Company Developer Program will be $99 for a one year subscription. This gives you access to iTunes Connect and the iOS Development Kit.
More Help?
If you have more questions, I don’t mind sharing what I’ve learned so far. Drop me a comment or send me an email and I’ll be glad to respond. Good luck with any future developing!
Picture courtesy of Apple.com
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your article. It is more straight forward than most I have encountered while looking for help on the topic. I would like to know how are the earnings transferred to your account if you register as a company? Does it go as wire transfer to your company account? Or is there a separate process for that from Apple? Also I am registering as a company from outside of the United States.
Thank You for your help and advice.
Richard
Thanks for the kind words Richard. To your question, I can only speak from my personal experience of having a business set up in the United States. Earnings are wired to a bank account that is set up in iTunes Connect. When first signing up as a developer, you will need to sign Apple’s “Paid iOS Applications contract” and give your company’s bank account info. This information needs to be processed before you will be allowed to submit any app.
Hope this helps!
I wonder, if I join the apple dev program, I give my credit card number.
So they will take 99 dollars each year? Or they will take it just now and next year I have to do the transaction again.
I dont want to be bound for life!
You will need to renew the account yourself. The process is not automatic. Get the scoop from Apple here:
https://developer.apple.com/support/ios/program-renewals.html
Hope that helps!
The Individual Developer Program allows me to develop on as many computers as I wish? And how many devices?
The Individual Developer Program does allow you to download the SDK to any Mac. The Company Developer Program allows you to invite up to 100 team members who can be given access to the SDK. The devices you choose to test on will need to be authorized through iTunes Connect. I don’t believe there is a limit, but you have to provide details of each device chosen for testing. Hope this info is helpful!
Hi Mike
We are in the process with a hired developer of creating a paid app. How does creating a bank account work so that our company receives the revenue? We do not want the revenue to go to the developer first and then to us. Can you help? Thanks
Great question! Apple will only pay a developer who has set up an account with them. If you want direct control of your revenue and you will be outsourcing the actual coding of the app, then you will need your own Company Developer account from Apple.
The Company account allows you to assign various user “roles” in iTunes Connect. You will invite your developer to a “technical role” and he or she will then be able to submit work. Through iTunes Connect, you will then be able to keep track of your app info, including payments.
I hope this info helps. Please let me know how you get along in the process, it can be a bit confusing! If you have any other questions feel free to contact me: Mike@DevelopMyLifeLLC.com
Dear Mike
Thanks for your article which is extremely helpful.
Do you know whether you can register as a company developer but provide bank details for royalties for a personal account?
Thanks
Alexandra
Alexandra,
Glad you can find some helpful info!
To your question: After looking through my Apple Developer contract/paperwork, it is my understanding that your bank account does not have to be directly tied your company. You can provide the bank details for any valid account.
I think, however, most accounting advice leans toward keeping your personal bank acount and company bank account seperate.
Ask around and you’ll probably be able to find a company-type bank account that will meet your needs.
Let me know how it works out for you. Good luck with your apps!
Hi,
If I develop a free iPhone app for my company as a developer and not company developer, can they still have ads placed on the app that create revenue for the company? These would be ads done by the company and not third party i.e. AdMob, iAd etc.
Thanks
If I understand your question correctly, yes, ads can be placed in any app whether you have an individual or company developer license. Your ad revenue is separate from your app revenue unless you have decided to use iAds.
I’m looking into registering an LLC for selling my apps. One thing that I was unsure of is mentions I read about doing business in another state. Do you need a license to do business in other states while selling through Apple?
I’m also trying to work out if I can file the papers for my LLC in the state where my family live, where filing is much easier, using their address for my business. From your experience, do you know if that is acceptable, or must I personally have a physical presence in that state?
I’ve never set up an LLC before, but I’m hoping it won’t be too difficult. Do you have any links to useful sites you used in researching how to create yours? Thank you for the article, I think I found more relevant information here than everywhere else I’ve looked.
I am not aware of any licenses needed to do business in other states while selling through Apple. I would definitely seek the council of your local municipality to make sure you are adhering to your city/town/county/state requirements.
About your second question, my understanding is that you do not have to live in the same state where your LLC “lives”. In fact, some states offer tax incentives for businesses to set up in their state. If you have a brick and mortar business or you will have employees, it is generally suggested you set up the LLC at the state in which you reside.
I found the website- http://www.myllc.com/ extremely helpful and full of good advice.
If I apply for an individual licence, does it have to show my actual name under the app as the developer name? Can I still have it say something a little more professional like the name of my site?
Here’s what I get from Apple:
“Your legal name will appear as the ‘Seller Name’ in the App Store.”
If you want to use a website name you will probably need to sign up with a company license… There’s a few hurdles, but it’s not that bad.
Hi Mike,
First of all thank you for the article!
I would like to ask you if i can receive payments to my company bank account with individual ios dev program or do i have to convert from individual to corporate to receive payments to my company bank account?
And in case of converting to corporate program, will I have to buy another individual program to build apps for appstore and then submit them through corporate program.?
Thanks Nick!
To your first question, you should be able to forward payments to any bank account you choose, regardless of which developer program you use.
The second question seems a bit more tricky. You can submit app for sale through either the individual or company program. The decisions you need to make is 1. Do you intend to do all the work yourself, with no team players? 2. What name do you want your apps to be developed under?
Choose the Individual program if you are going it alone and don’t mind your name being in the app store as the developer. Choose the Company program if you are working with other individuals and/or want to list a company name as the developer in the app store.
Hope that helps!
Hey Mike!
So about forwarding payments, like you sad, this term backs up what you are saying, right?
“The Account Holder Name you provide does not need to match your Legal Entity Name used for your contract. The Account Holder Name you provide should exactly match the name your bank has on file for the account. Any mismatches could cause your bank to reject our payments. Your Account Holder Name is available from your bank and is generally presented on your bank statement. ”
So it doesn’t matter if i choose my personal bank account, or my company bank account or even your bank account?
And about second question….i have to apologize… i was comparing individual iOS dev program vs. enterprise iOS dev program, and got a little bit mixed up. I thought enterprise was the same as company…but i was wrong.
Just one more thing… the price stays the same if i ask apple to change my individual to company dev program, right? The only thing that will change is the name of the seller and i’ll be able to add developers to my team.?
Thank you soooo much for your time, Mike!
Regards
You are correct Nick. The price does stay the same. I would assume that Apple created the Individual Developer Program to make an “easy in” for those interested in working within the platform. I do recommend going with the Company Developer Program if possible, however, because it gives you more options. Good Luck with your apps!
Dear Mike
Thanks for your article which is extremely helpful.
I have some other questions for you:
1. Which information on the Apple Developer Program is shared with you. For example, is there any way you can track the countries where your application was bought? Can I get the emails or any other information of the user that bough your application? (Ipod, Ipad or Iphone) Or all this information is private and Apple won’t share with you. This information probably can help to translate your application to a foreign country or send future newsletter to the buyers.
2. When you sold an application which legal and tax incomes are applied? Depending on the buyer’s country or the developer country? e.i. An Australian customer buy the application on the App Store, and the developer has a US Company.
3. Testing purposes, can I get a Individual account and register Ipod, Ipad and Iphone 3GS, 4, 4S to do the testing on each device?
4. Is there any way you can arrange with AppStore to avoid charging a particular customer? e.i. Suppose you want to give some free apps for some app reviewers or as part of your marketing campaign. Is there any possibility of doing this?
5. Once you set a price on an application, is there any way of changing the price or making an update?
6. Is there any way you can set a variable price, depending on the country it is beign sold? e.i. US: 10 USD and in Australia 5 Australian dollars
.
Thanks in advance,
Nicholas
Hey Nicholas,
I’ll try to my best to share what I know. I may just take this info and create a new post. Here’s some answers I hope help:
1. Which information on the Apple Developer Program is shared with you. For example, is there any way you can track the countries where your application was bought? Can I get the emails or any other information of the user that bough your application?
You will get some slight marketing info from iTunes connect. You will see the number of downloads for each app and you will also see where those downloads are coming from. (When you create an app, you tell Apple, what world markets in which you wish to be available.) You do not receive, however, any personal info.
2. When you sold an application which legal and tax incomes are applied?
The developer is responsible for his or her own income tax, regardless of where the app is bought.
3. Testing purposes, can I get a Individual account and register Ipod, Ipad and Iphone 3GS, 4, 4S to do the testing on each device?
Yes, I believe an individual account does allow for testing on multiple devices. I know for a fact the company license does. When you build an ad-hoc version of your app, you are allowed 100 different testing devices. You provide the device identification numbers in your provisioning portal.
4. Is there any way you can arrange with AppStore to avoid charging a particular customer? e.i. Suppose you want to give some free apps for some app reviewers or as part of your marketing campaign. Is there any possibility of doing this?
Yes, each app is allowed a certain number of promo codes, I believe 100 per app. You can generate these through iTunes connect.
5. Once you set a price on an application, is there any way of changing the price or making an update?
Yes, through iTunes Connect you are allowed to make changes to your app. This includes pricing, updates, icons and app store content.
6. Is there any way you can set a variable price, depending on the country it is beign sold? e.i. US: 10 USD and in Australia 5 Australian dollars.
This is a great question. I’m not sure that it can be done, but I will look into it and see what I find. I do know you can choose which markets you wish to sell your app. Not sure though on the possibility of differentiating the price…
Hope some of these answers help. Let me know if you have more!
Thank you that was really helpfull!
Hi Mike.
First, the article is very helpful, thanks!
Question: when registered in the developer program (either as an individual or as a company), are you given an option to control the frequency of the payments? i.e. can the developer put the payments “on hold” for some period of time? what’s the maximum time period or an amount you can accumulate without withdrawing the money to you bank account?
Also, you mentioned first that Apple can pay only to the developer who is registered through the dev portal, but later on you responded that a bank account holder can differ from an individual developer. That means Apple pays to anyone that developer indicates in the bank account information, and this is not limited to the developer, right?
Thanks,
Tengiz
Hello Tengiz.
Apple provides what is called a “minimum payment threshold” for its developers. This threshold, from what I understand is set according to Apple’s billing process. If your app makes money beyond the threshold, you will be wired your profits on their next billing cycle. I’m not aware of any possible payment-schedule requests being allowed.
To your second question, this gets a little confusing, but I’ll do my best. I’m pretty sure, that as a developer, (individual or company,) you may register any bank account that you want. However, in the AppStore, the seller’s name will be the developer’s. If company ABC wanted to develop an app through developer XYZ, they should create their own company account (including registering their own bank account) and then add developer XYZ as a team member who will upload the app binary to the store.
Confusing enough? If this doesn’t answer your question, just let me know. I’ll give it another shot. Maybe I should write a post on the intricacies of Apple’s account management?
Hello Mike.
Thanks for answering my questions!
Actually, the second answer goes into a slight different direction than what I intended. Let me explain the basis for this question: I am interested what are the options for “alien resident worker” developer, which means a person living in the U.S. on the H-1B worker visa basis. The law states that in this case developer cannot have an income other than a salary given by H-1B employer. However, if apple could hold the payments for the developer (perhaps until he/she leaves the country, or acquires an immigrant status) then withdrawing the income would not be a violation of the U.S. employment law.
However, from your answer I understood that there is no such an option given by Apple.
Thanks,
Tengiz
Hi,
Thanks a lot for all your answers, I really appreciate your help for all of us.
I have the following doubts as a Non US iPhone Developer:
1. Whether Apple will retain 30% of the revenue other than the 30% commission, if we don’t provide IEIN number for Company and ITIN number for Individual.
2. Whether I need to submit W8BEN Form for Apple not retaining the Tax Amount, if it is for a Company what has to be submitted for a Individual?
3. If I need to take iPhone Developer as a NON-US Developer, what forms has to be submitted as a Individual and as a Company.
4. Whether DUNS number is required for Non-US Company, want to subscribe for iOs Developer Program.
5. Which is easy to obtain IEIN number or SSN number?
Thanks in advance for the help.
ARM Rao
Hi Mike,
You’ve been great help to all of us. We really appreciate it.
I have one simple question. My LLC is set up, but my business bank account is not yet set up. They said it might still take 2 weeks. Can I pay the $99 through my personal bank account and create an apple developer account without entering any of my business bank details until the bank account is opened? Once it is opened, can I enter those details and then start selling my app?
Thanks!
Hey Shah,
Here’s what I found digging through the Apple Developer program page:
“If you have administrative or financial privileges, you can enter banking information for receiving developer share payments. You must provide banking and tax information before your contract goes in effect allowing your apps to be sold.”
The way I interpret it, you can develop, but you can not sell your app until your banking info is in line and working.
Hope that helps!
Mike
Hi Mike,
Thenks for your very helpful article. I wonder if you can help me with the following issue. In the App Store Resource Center (https://developer.apple.com/appstore/in-app-purchase/subscriptions.html) it is stated that: “If you offer auto-renewable subscriptions, you can also use other methods to acquire digital subscribers outside of your app. You can sell digital subscriptions on your website or provide free access to content for existing subscribers.”
I would like to do exactly that, do you have any idea how I go about doing it? Do I establish this within iTunes Connect? If so, how exactly? When my existing subscribers (or those to whom I sell a digital subscription outside of my app) download my app, they would need to be prompted to enter a user name and password, or an external subscription number in order to have access to my digital publication without having to pay for the digital subscription within the app (since they have already payed for it through my website).
Any Idea on how to go about this? I know that publications such as The Economist do this. But how is the whole thing set up with Apple?
Thank you very much in advance,
Ma. Antonieta Muñoz