Apple’s “Mini-App” Program Isn’t a Feature. It’s a Declaration of War on Stripe
Apple’s new 15% commission rule is a goldmine. Unlock the "Feature Publisher" model to cut costs, boost conversion, and find a hidden high-margin revenue source.
You ever watch a magician and focus on the white dove, just to realize your wallet’s missing?
That’s Apple’s “Mini App Program”.
Right now, 99% of developers and the entire tech press are mesmerized by the “superapp” and “HTML5” talk. They’re watching the dove.
They think, Apple’s new “Mini Apps Partner Program” essentially gives native iOS apps permission to become “superapps”—platforms that host other, smaller apps inside them.
What a “Mini App” is: A lightweight experience, like a tool, game, or utility, built with web tech (HTML5, JavaScript) that runs inside a main native app (the “Host App”).
The Model: Think of it like WeChat in China. A single “Host App” (like a travel app) can now host a dozen “mini-apps” (like a restaurant booker, a currency converter, a packing list) from different third-party developers.
They completely missed the real move. This isn’t a feature. It’s a shakedown.
Apple just walked into our collective app studio office, saw us all using clunky web forms to bypass their 30% tax, and instead of punishing us, they put a golden briefcase on the table.
The “Mini App Program” is a brilliant, cold-blooded bribe. The message is simple:
“Stop trying to beat me. Join me. Use my seamless Apple Pay, kill your janky Stripe checkout, and I’ll cut your 30% tax in half.”
This 15% “discount” isn’t a gift. It’s a weapon. And it just gave birth to an entirely new, high-margin business model.
I’m calling it the “Feature Publisher” model. Forget building or buying whole apps—this is how you’re going to get rich.
honestly, it’s one of the smartest new revenue plays I’ve seen in years. Let’s break down the real alpha.
💰 The 15% Bribe: Apple’s War on “Web2App”
For years, we’ve all complained about the 30% “App Tax”.
Epic Games famously launched a public war over it, trying to break the monopoly, and got themselves kicked off the App Store for their troubles.
For the rest of us who don’t have a Fortnite-sized war chest, the only “smart” workaround has been the “Web2App” flow.
You know the drill: You get a user in your app, and when it’s time to pay, you shove them over to a web browser to pay via Stripe, dodging Apple’s 30% commission.
It’s a clunky, conversion-killing nightmare. Users hate entering credit cards. They hate the OTP codes. But it saved you 30%.
Apple hates this. They’re losing money, and more importantly, they’re losing control of the transaction.
So, with this new Mini App Program, Apple is making us an offer we can’t refuse.
Apple’s Message:
“Stop sending users out of my ecosystem. I know you’re just selling them an HTML/web-based service. So here’s the deal: Sell that exact same web service as a ‘mini-app’ inside your native app. Use my seamless, one-click Apple Pay, and in return, I’ll slash my commission from 30% to just 15%.”
This is not a gift. It’s a golden-handcuffed trap.
Apple wins because:
They kill the “Web2App” leakage and keep all payments inside their ecosystem.
The in-app experience becomes 10x better (Apple Pay vs. web form), boosting conversions.
They get to create a new “In-App Marketplace” economy, just like the ChatGPT Store, but for everyone.
You win because your conversion rates are about to skyrocket, and your net revenue still goes up.
But that’s just the bait. Here’s the real opportunity.
The New “Feature Publisher” Playbook
This new 15% rule (which leaves 85% for the publisher) creates a business model that simply wasn’t viable before.
At Madduck, my team built a portfolio of 50+ apps. Our growth model was to build, or sometimes acquire, whole new apps to test new markets. This is slow, expensive, and high-risk.
The new model is “Feature Publishing”.
Instead of acquiring apps, you can now license or re-sell features.
Here’s the pitch.
You own a successful app with 1,000,000 users (the “Host App”). You find an indie developer who built a single killer feature —let’s say an “AI Headshot Generator”—that’s doing $20k/mo.
That developer would never sell you their app. It’s their baby.
So you make them this offer:
“Hey, I love your AI Headshot tool. Let me license it and sell it as a ‘mini-app’ inside my 1M-user app. You don’t have to do any work. I’ll handle the marketing and plug it into my user base. Of the 85% revenue Apple lets me keep, I’ll split it with you 50/50.”
You just became a “Feature Publisher”.
You get an instant, high-margin new revenue stream with zero R&D cost, leveraging your existing traffic.
The developer gets a massive new sales channel they did nothing for.
The user gets an awesome new feature inside an app they already trust.
This is a game-changer for validating ideas.
Why build a whole new app to test a concept? Just build the feature as a mini-app and deploy it inside one of your high-traffic apps.
You’ll get real-world data in days, not months.
Apple just provided the commercial bridge. They’ve created the perfect, high-margin incentive to plug the “AI features”.
This is the future. It’s not just about building standalone apps anymore. It’s about building a portfolio of high-value features and finding the most profitable channels to sell them.
Apple just turned every high-traffic app into a potential marketplace, and every indie dev with one great feature into a potential partner.
So, the question is, which one are you?
Hit reply and tell me: Are you a “Host” (with traffic), a “Builder” (with a feature), or a “Publisher” (the new middle-man)?