As we head toward the end of the year, Apple has responded to one of the more frequent requests its App Store developers make in the form of more flexibility when it comes to setting prices. Developers will also gain new flexibility to manage pricing globally and can expect additional tools, which Apple will begin rolling out today and throughout 2023.

Developers gain better pricing controls

The big change Apple made is to give developers 700 additional price points to use when setting prices for their apps. The latest move is the biggest improvement involving price capabilities Apple has made since the launch of the App Store.

At that launch, then-CEO Steve Jobs explained that every developer dreamed of offering their app to every user, something that was far from possible at that time. "Most developers don't have those kind of resources, even the big developers would have a hard time getting their app in front of every iPhone user," he said.

Apple has augmented the additional prices with tools to facilitate setting prices per App Store country or region, tools to manage foreign exchange rates, and other improvements.

Now, up to 900 price points are supported

The new system means developers can choose among 900 price points, nearly 10 times the number of points previously available for apps. Prices start at 29 cents and can go much higher. In fact, Apple says there are hundreds of new prices and an additional 100 higher price options - as much as$10,000 - which are available on request. This makes sense, and reflects what Apple learned historically in the early days of the App Store when the infamous and useless$999 'I Am Rich' app briefly appeared.

In a little more detail, there's a selection of price points that increase incrementally across price ranges. There are 10 10-cent increments up to$10, 50 cent increments between$10 and$50 and so on. Apple plans to publish a table detailing the prices on its developer site.

Useful tools for more efficient currency support

While in the US and UK the convention is$x.xx or