Time Travel: 2014

After reaching an outsourcing/outsourcing agreement with the AZUREOCEAN team.

Lin Hui paid the Freelancer platform the base amount of the agreement of US$50,000.

Maybe it's because the recent transaction record of Lin Hui's bank card is pretty good.

The Freelancer platform does not charge Lin Hui any miscellaneous fees such as deposits/security deposits.

After Lin Hui paid the 50,000 US dollars.

The balance on the 0010 card immediately changed (from US$10,521,500) to US$10,471,500.

I spent too much money when I bought the domain name before.

Lin Hui is already a bit numb to spending tens of thousands of dollars now.

Is this what it feels like to be rich? ?

However, there are no eggs.

Although Lin Hui's bank card turnover was very strong today.

But it's basically all outflow, not inflow.

When will Lin Hui be able to earn millions of dollars in minutes?

Maybe he is the real boss.

Just as Lin Hui was thinking this, he suddenly received a text message:

"...Your China Merchants Bank card ending in 0010... received a cross-border transfer of US$1,395,035.71, and the current balance of the card is US$11,866,535.71."

(⊙﹏⊙)?

Could it be that this world is actually a brain control game?

(Lin Hui immediately made up his mind\u0026amp;%￥#@￥~

...But no miracle happened. . . )

The sudden arrival of more than one million US dollars surprised Lin Hui.

If you receive a refund, it may be that something happened to the website you purchased from previously.

But the bank's text message clearly stated that this was a transfer.

Lin Hui's mind was filled with questions.

Where did the transfer come from?

When the Lin Hui 0010 card is used as a collection account, it is only reserved in the αapple personal developer account.

So this transfer can only come from αapple?

It shouldn't be. Lin Hui remembered that the software profits for the past few days were all paid in the morning.

Why did the account suddenly change to arrive at night?

Could it be a temporary adjustment?

No, according to the AppStore's usual rigid style.

This money is definitely not a share of software sales.

Lin Hui suddenly remembered what he had seen in the AppStore Developer Incentive Program:

“Excellent individual developers who develop 3 or more high-quality apps every year will also have the opportunity to be selected as outstanding individual developers, receive huge rewards from αapple, and will also be invited to participate in the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) "

Could it be that he has become an outstanding personal developer?

Is this money a reward for being selected as an outstanding individual developer?

Lin Hui logged into his personal developer account in the App Store and rummaged through a dense pile of background messages for a long time.

Finally found some relevant news:

"Dear individual developer GRAY FOREST, hello! You have currently developed three high-quality apps including "Life Restart Simulator", "2048" and "FLAPPY BIRD". You have the qualifications to participate in the selection of outstanding individual developers. qualifications."

"After careful selection by the AppStore team and considering a variety of factors... you were finally selected as an outstanding individual developer, GRAY FOREST. You are the 157th outstanding individual developer in the AppStore worldwide..."

"Dear outstanding (individual) developer, your benefit details have been sent to your mailbox in the form of a document, please pay attention to check it."

"..."

o(*￣▽￣*)ブ

Sure enough, he became an outstanding developer.

Lin Hui really didn’t expect that he could become an outstanding personal developer by developing only 3 apps.

After all, the AppStore stated that "outstanding individual developers who develop 3 or more high-quality apps every year will also have the opportunity to be selected as outstanding individual developers."

Lin Hui once thought that he would have to develop at least four or five apps to become an outstanding individual developer.

Uh, but the outstanding developer promised.

Why are there nearly two hundred people in the world?

Moreover, Lin Hui was still ranked 157th, not even in the top 100.

(⊙﹏⊙), Lin Hui felt that the title of "Excellent Personal Developer" was instantly distasteful.

But it’s not unacceptable to think about it differently.

In 2014, there were 9 million registered developers in the AppStore worldwide.

Even if he is ranked 157th, he is still considered one of the best.

And according to the AppStore.

This so-called 157th is just a time ranking.

It has nothing to do with the developer's technical level.

Although the gold content of this outstanding developer is not as high as Lin Hui imagined, it is still an honor regardless of the size.

So the money that just arrived was indeed a reward from the AppStore?

But why are these rewards mixed?

Why is it exactly $1,395,035.71?

Instead of a straightforward $1.5 million?

Or is this a tax deduction? But what kind of tax is being deducted?

With doubts, Lin Hui contacted Huang Jing, a software engineer at AppStore.

Since the launch of the first game "Life Restart Simulator", the App Store has been sending Huang Jing to communicate with Lin Hui.

Lin Hui has launched several small games one after another during this period.

The communication between the two people is quite frequent.

Frequent contact, coupled with Lin Hui's previous life and Huang Jing's similar working experience.

The two of them still have a lot of things in common.

The only strange thing is that although the communication is relatively close.

But the two of them still didn’t even add each other on WeChat.

Mainly rely on iMessage and phone calls.

But these are secondary.

After all, it can be considered a personal friendship now.

Now that Lin Hui is confused about the App Store, he thinks of Huang Jing first in both public and private matters.

…

Lin Hui found out through communicating with Huang Jing.

After becoming an outstanding personal developer.

The share ratio between developers and AppStore has changed from the original 7:3 to 3:1 (7.5:2.5)

That is to say, when Lin Hui develops software in his own name in the App Store, his share will be increased from 70% to 75%.

The US$1,395,035.71 that Lin Hui received just now is essentially returning the 5% of the overseas revenue share previously occupied to individual developers.

Uh, is this still the case?

Many trivial rules in this world are slightly different from those in the previous life.

Lin Hui was a little surprised when he heard this for the first time.

Thinking of all the events in his previous life, Lin Hui couldn't help but sigh:

"I never thought that one day αapple would spit out the fat in his mouth..."

After sighing, Lin Hui realized that Huang Jing on the other end of the phone had also heard this sentence.

Just when he was trying to say something more to take care of Huang Jing's mood.

Huang Jing didn't take it seriously at all and said with a smile:

"In fact, the App Store did not expect that... according to the rules of the agreement, even if an outstanding individual developer appears, the App Store will only return the overseas income of the individual developer in the month when he became an outstanding individual developer..."

Huang Jing also specially added an accent to the words "that month" and "overseas".

For a moment, Lin Hui already understood αapple's "good intentions."

Typically, developers rarely become famous overnight.

Becoming an outstanding individual developer often requires a long cycle.

Although time sometimes makes the value of things precipitate.

But more often than not it dilutes the value of things.

Perhaps some high-quality APPs have also made guest appearances as cash cows.

But when these developers become outstanding developers, these former cash cows may actually be at the end of their game in the market.

In this case, even if such a developer can become an outstanding individual developer, the App Store will not need to refund much money.

And it is even more stupid to only return 5% of the revenue share of overseas application revenue.

After all, not all applications can be used globally.

Those who rely on good local adaptability of their software to become great developers.

Overseas revenue from the software they develop is likely to be minimal.

Based on the above, the vast majority of developers can become excellent individual developers.

It is also difficult to see a scenario like Lin Hui returning millions of dollars at once.

As for Lin Hui’s situation.

It can only be said that when the App Store formulated the rules, it never thought that someone could become an outstanding developer within a month.

I never expected that the projects developed by Lin Hui would not only have strong vitality locally, but also have strong market appeal overseas.

But Lin Hui was still puzzled: "Then why didn't the AppStore wait until my game popularity subsided and my income was low before selecting me as an outstanding individual developer?"

Huang Jing asked: "Don't you know?"

Lin Hui: "What do you know???"

Huang Jing said: "The global revenue of the application you developed has exceeded 30 million US dollars."

Lin Hui did a rough calculation (the calculation process is omitted) and found that the global revenue of the application he developed has indeed exceeded 30 million US dollars.

But does this data have anything to do with the question Lin Hui just asked?

Seeing Lin Hui in a daze didn't seem like he was being fake.

Huang Jing explained: "Well, don't you know? TimC00k personally said at last year's WWDC (αpple Global Developer Conference) that each outstanding individual developer is worth no less than 30 million US dollars to αpple. Apple's major divisions Naturally, I take what the cook said as an edict..."

Lin Hui: "So, individual developers whose software revenue exceeds 30 million US dollars are automatically treated as outstanding individual developers?"

Huang Jing: "Yeah."

According to this statement, if it weren't for the software developed by Lin Hui, the revenue would have exceeded 30 million.

It is possible that Lin Hui’s treatment is no different from that of other outstanding developers.

I really didn’t expect that the story behind an “excellent personal developer” is so tortuous.

Ordinarily, even if αapple unambiguously implements a 5% return ratio.

They will never lose anything.

The reason why these twists and turns of rules exist.

It can only be said that capitalists are all profit-seeking in nature...

But maybe it’s because of survivorship bias.

He didn't care about the twists and turns.

To be honest, it was beyond Lin Hui's expectation that the share ratio could be increased to 75%.

Moreover, the reason why Lin Hui wanted to become an outstanding individual developer in the first place was just so that he could continue to enjoy the benefits of daily settlement.

In this way, Lin Hui can quickly withdraw funds by developing applications on the AppStore.

Looking at it now, Lin Hui's goal has obviously been achieved.

But having said that, the money I just received is actually just a tax refund, not a real reward.

Lin Hui asked curiously: "So what does αapple's so-called huge reward mean?"

Huang Jing: "Becoming the next paid application developed by an outstanding developer can temporarily enjoy 80% of the share..."

After hearing this, Lin Hui was a little disappointed: "Is it just that the next paid application will temporarily enjoy 80% of the share? Will it have to be restored to 75% in the future?"

After getting Huang Jing's affirmative answer.

Lin Hui then asked: "There are less than 200 outstanding individual developers in the App Store worldwide. Why doesn't αpple directly adjust the share of outstanding developers to 80% in one step?"

Although this idea is a bit like seeking skin from a tiger, it is not entirely Lin Hui's wishful thinking.

Lin Hui remembered that in previous lives, some platform developers' share could reach 80%.

For example, after the new STEAM share ratio adjustment in the previous life.

The originally fixed developer commission of 70% of revenue will be changed to a commission proportion determined based on sales.

When the total sales of the game exceeds 10 million US dollars, the developer's share ratio will be increased to 75%;

When total sales exceed US$50 million, the developer's share will further increase to 80%.

The reason why STEAM adopted such a move in the previous life was to encourage developers of popular games and attract more major game manufacturers to publish games on the Steam platform.

As a platform, AppStore has the same revenue idea as Steam.

Why can't developers' treatment be improved?

The total sales of applications developed by Lin Hui are obviously higher than 10 million US dollars, so I don’t know where they are.

A higher share than 75% is not too much, right?

After hearing Lin Hui's question, Huang Jing said with a hint of regret: "Actually, the top 100 outstanding individual developers can indeed enjoy an 80% share ratio, but the share ratio for outstanding developers after the 100th place is only 75%."

Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

Well, maybe this is the legendary saying that the slightest damage is the most insulting!

Is there any difference in the specific treatment for outstanding individual developers?

Lin Hui really wanted to ask if this space-time αapple was a Russian company.

How about playing Russian/Russian matryoshka dolls here?

The promised ranking of 157th is only related to chronological order and has nothing to do with the level of development?

Lin Hui thought to himself, it turns out that there is indeed a hierarchy of seniority everywhere.

Huang Jing said: "It's not completely impossible. As long as the total revenue of the developed software exceeds 80 million US dollars, outstanding developers can still enjoy 80% of the share."

$80 million in revenue?

Evil capitalists, they really know how to extract surplus value from workers.

Lin Hui felt that this condition was probably not a dream.

Although there are also companies that rely on software development to achieve revenue of 80 million US dollars.

But this is generally corporate behavior or company behavior.

It is simply impossible to achieve 80 million in revenue through personal development activities.

Although Lin Hui's previous games were very popular, this popularity is largely difficult to replicate.

This is Lin Hui's information advantage of a few more years.

He also couldn't think of any example of an individual developer making more than $80 million in revenue purely from mobile software.

Lin Hui asked helplessly: "Besides this, is there no other way?"

Huang Jing: "That's true. As long as the software developed can win the Apple Design Awards, the developer can also enjoy 80% of the share of the software."

Lin Hui's eyes lit up when he heard this.

The so-called Apple Design Awards are the Apple Design Awards, which are design awards awarded by Apple in the United States during WWDC every year.

It aims to recognize software and hardware developers who have outstanding performance in design, technology and innovation on Apple platforms such as iOS and macOS every year.

The award was established in 1996. The first two sessions were called the "Human-Computer Interaction Outstanding Design Award". Since 1998, it has been changed to the "Apple Design Award" and is still used today.

Although the name of the award is quite down-to-earth, it is not easy to win this award.

After all, among the millions of apps in the App Store, only 10 have the chance to win this award every year.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it is one in a hundred thousand.

Judging from this probability, perhaps the Apple Design Awards may even be more difficult than being selected as an outstanding individual developer.