The feature is said to “come out soon.” Source: Forbes
The feature is said to “come out soon.” Source: Forbes

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that the social media platform will launch a new interface that allows creators to see different fees and how they affect their earnings. The announcement comes barely hours before Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference. It also comes during a time where Apple has come under heavy scrutiny over the fees it charges on its app store. 

The new interface from Facebook is set to show creators how much money Google and Apple take from them as part of the fees. The interface will also have other details about deductions including the amount of money charged in taxes. Despite this, the Facebook CEO did not clearly state when the interface will roll out but he assured users that it will “come out soon.”

In addition to this, Zuckerberg confirmed that the social media platform will keep paid online events, fan subscriptions, and badges free of charge for its creators till 2023. Facebook had launched the events feature on the platform last year and promised users that no fees will be charged until 2021. But it seems Zuckerberg and the team have decided to extend that deadline by another two years.

The Facebook CEO noted that the social media giant will introduce a cut for online events. Source: The Hill
The Facebook CEO noted that the social media giant will introduce a cut for online events. Source: The Hill

The Facebook CEO also noted that while eventually, the social media giant will introduce a cut for online events, it will be “less than the 30% Apple and others take.” Facebook is also currently involved in a tassel with Apple over the new App Tracking Transparency feature that launched with iOS 14.5. The new feature will make it harder for Facebook to track users and their activity online. 

The social media company has maintained that the tracking is done to provide its customers with a better social media experience. Facebook believes that the new feature by Apple will make it harder for it to do so. The social media company took out a full-page newspaper ad to criticize the move. Facebook is even asking its users to give its apps permission to track them saying that this is the only way to help keep Facebook and Instagram free. 

But it's unlikely that Apple will back down. Nonetheless, the smartphone giant has found itself in the public light in recent days over the fees that it charges for apps available on the app store. Every in-app purchase done through the App Store is subjected to a 30% cut by Apple. Apple has made it mandatory for all in-app purchases to go through the App Store.

Apple has made it mandatory for all purchases to go through the App Store. Source: Appuals
Apple has made it mandatory for all purchases to go through the App Store. Source: Appuals

This means that third-party payments are not allowed which in turn ensures that the smartphone giant can control revenues made in the store. Any app that fails to honor these terms is removed. Just recently, Apple was sued by Epic Games, the company behind the popular game Fortnite. 

Fortnite was removed from the App Store after it started accepting third-party payments for in-app purchases. Epic argues that the 30% cut taken by Apple is just too much. Besides, the company also believes that users should ultimately decide how they want to pay.