Blockchain powered mobile apps are the future
March 1, 2023 – At ETHDenver, a giant bubble ball marked “Save Your Margin” attracted a lot of attention. With a lot of symbolic graffiti, a large amount of money enclosed in the bubble ball made a deep visual impact on the developers present. Upon closer inspection, this unique installation art was revealed to be the creation of Mirror World, an all-in-one development platform. Embellished with intricate details and a stunning design, the artwork was proudly displayed at the Web3 Social House event, held in collaboration with Mask Network, Mirror World, Chainbase, Collab.Land and a myriad of other exciting projects. The event was a celebration for Web3 developers worldwide, supported by developer communities such as Gitcoin, Lens Protocol, RSS3 and others. Passionate about reclaiming profits that are rightfully theirs, the event showcased developers’ tireless efforts and boundless creativity in their quest for more rights.
In fact, in terms of disappearing revenue, this is what major platforms are taking from many developers in their apps. The income distribution model in walled gardens has been in place for over a decade. Although platforms like Apple’s app store have made some adjustments to this relationship, is it still appropriate in an ecosystem where third-party developers are the primary creators of app content? At the same time, can the current platform accept these innovations and changes in the face of the impact of new blockchain technology, the strengthening of users’ awareness of asset ownership and the transformation of asset purchase methods? All these questions should be reconsidered.
Mass blockchain adoption is becoming more and more possible as blockchain technology matures. Several platforms are emerging to help developers lower the entry barrier to Web3 development and increase user switching, such as Smart Platform by Mirror World. However, the combination of both blockchain technology and mobile applications can take this vision even further. This is because the global penetration of mobile devices, the commercialization of mobile applications and the maturity of product content distribution have unique advantages over other application terminals. Users can download and experience a mobile application very easily and directly. But even so, it must be admitted that the interoperability of blockchain technology and mobile apps still faces challenges. The main resistance is from the distribution of applications, the distribution rules and the extraction of developers’ mobile distribution in app revenue from platforms such as Apple’s app store and Google Play.
Apple, for example, charges a 30% fee for any digital product or service sold on the App Store, and requires all apps sold through the App Store to use its internal payment system, forcing the hand of developers.
When the Apple Store launched in 2008, it offered around 500 different apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. By 2021, the app store had grown to nearly 2 million apps, with nearly 99.99% from third-party developers. This shows that as the Apple Store ecosystem grows, Apple is no longer the primary provider of app content. More apps are being built by third-party developers, contributing more and more to revenue.
Chris Zhu
NewYork, USA
Worldwide gross app revenue from the Apple App Store from 2017 to 2021, Source: Statista
At the same time, a significant percentage of the revenue the developers actually get is spent on advertising and marketing to get more users and conversions, but this revenue is then invested in Apple’s ecosystem. For developers, they contribute the core content of the entire ecosystem, allowing countless users to experience games, social media, music and other premium content, with the majority of profits taken by the ecosystem.
The Washington Post reported that Epic Games Fortnite paid Apple $237 million in commissions from January 2017 to October 2020. Big players like Epic Games can appeal Apple’s unfair rules by taking a series of legal actions, but most small studios have no choice but to to comply with Apple’s policies, even if they are unhappy with them.
The rise of cryptocurrencies has directly led to the loosening of the bricks in this walled garden. Globally, the majority of cryptocurrency users can easily purchase digital assets across borders at a consensus value without going through any intermediaries and in a sense actually own the assets. Due to blockchain technology’s natural anti-censorship nature, it has the ability for protocol-level transactions to bypass Apple’s rules directly. But Apple, seeing all this, sensed the crisis about to be undermined, and introduced guidelines related to the purchase and sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), prohibiting third-party payment tools in transactions related to NFTs and still only allowing users to use their purchase method in the app. Otherwise, the app will be penalized, taken down or banned from the account.
With this series of practices, Apple always seems to claim that it is the real champion in this Internet era because it grasps the entrance of application distribution and can determine the development direction of application innovation. To act in such a way to protect one’s own interests is to kill real innovation.
The smart platform offered by Mirror World seeks to help all developers defend against policies like Apple’s by helping developers further accelerate their ability to innovate applications through better use and further integration of applications and blockchain technology. Using Mirror World’s Smart Platform, developers can rapidly develop a multi-site blockchain application. By adding value to their assets, combined with the interoperability and liquidity offered by the blockchain, developers will get their revenue back and be able to feed the core community and ecosystem to continue on this long road to fight Big Tech.
Surrounding the bubble ball are idealistic developers and warriors who want to break through the walls as true disruptors. When you look up at the bubble ball, it’s not as solid as it looks. Any attempt to stifle innovation will eventually become an apparition, disappearing into the dust heaps of history. The rest are just waiting for the disruptors to strike.
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