WWDC 2025: Apple's Celebratory Tone Rings Hollow for Developers Amid AI Delays and App Store Battles
The curtains closed on Apple's WWDC 2025 keynote address with a performance designed to serenade its developer community. Singer-songwriter Allen Stone took to the stage, transforming positive App Store reviews into lyrics for a song titled “6 out of 5 stars.” Lines like “Best app I’ve ever set my sorry eyes upon” and “This is not an app. It’s a piece of art” filled the air, a seemingly heartfelt tribute to the creators who populate Apple's ecosystem. Yet, for many developers watching, the cheerful melody likely felt dissonant, a stark contrast to the turbulent reality of building and maintaining a business on Apple's platforms.
What was conspicuously absent from the hour-and-a-half-long presentation was any meaningful acknowledgment of the significant challenges and frustrations that have plagued Apple's developer community over the past few years. The keynote, while showcasing new features and design paradigms, largely sidestepped the core issues of trust, revenue sharing, and the pace of technological innovation that truly impact developers' livelihoods and ability to build for the future.
The AI Era: Promises, Delays, and Limited Horizons
One of the most anticipated aspects of WWDC 2025 was Apple's strategy for integrating artificial intelligence more deeply into its ecosystem. The tech industry is rapidly embracing AI, and developers are eager for tools and frameworks that will allow them to build next-generation intelligent applications on Apple devices. However, the keynote's AI announcements were met with a mix of tempered enthusiasm and disappointment.
A significant point of contention was the status of the “more personalized,” AI-powered Siri, which was first demonstrated at WWDC the previous year. In March, Apple had delayed this anticipated update, and its brief mention during this year's keynote confirmed that the work “needed more time” to meet Apple’s standards. This delay is not merely a setback for consumers hoping for a smarter voice assistant; it impacts developers who might be building apps that rely on deeper Siri integration and contextual understanding to offer advanced features.
The AI features that were announced often felt like catching up to capabilities already present on competing platforms, particularly those powered by Google's extensive AI research. Apple showcased AI-powered translation features, a useful addition, but one that Google has offered in various forms for some time. Apple attempted to differentiate with features like lyrics translation in Apple Music, but the core functionality wasn't groundbreaking.
Even more telling was the demonstration of Apple’s AI-powered Visual Intelligence feature. This capability, designed to provide information about objects in images, was shown tapping into Google’s app for image search results. This reliance on a competitor's service for a core AI demonstration underscored the perception that Apple might be lagging in fundamental AI capabilities compared to Google, whose Android devices already feature deeply integrated visual search innovations like Circle to Search, Lens’ multisearch, and visual search within videos. For developers looking to leverage cutting-edge on-device AI or robust cloud AI services from Apple, the offerings felt incremental rather than transformative.
Apple did announce some developer-focused AI integrations, including the addition of ChatGPT in Apple’s Image Playground app and coding assistance in Xcode. These integrations, particularly in Xcode, are valuable tools that can boost developer productivity. However, the reliance on OpenAI technology, while practical, also highlighted Apple's position in the AI race – partnering with external leaders rather than showcasing its own foundational models for broad developer use. Rumors of potential integrations with other AI providers like Google Gemini or Anthropic did not materialize, leaving developers wondering about the breadth of Apple's AI strategy and its commitment to offering diverse AI tools beyond its primary partnership.
The update to the Shortcuts app with AI features, while making automation more accessible, felt like a stop-gap solution. Power users have long sought deeper automation capabilities, and while AI can enhance Shortcuts, the ultimate goal for many is a truly intelligent Siri capable of understanding complex requests and taking actions across apps seamlessly – a capability still delayed.
The App Store Conundrum: Silence on Commissions Amid Regulatory Pressure
Perhaps the most glaring omission from the WWDC keynote was any substantial discussion about the App Store's business model and the controversial commissions Apple charges developers. This silence comes at a time when Apple is facing intense scrutiny and legal challenges globally regarding its control over app distribution and payments.
In the United States, Apple recently experienced a significant legal defeat against Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite. This ruling mandates that Apple must allow U.S. developers to direct users to alternative payment methods outside the App Store, where Apple cannot collect its standard 15-30% commission. This decision, a culmination of years of legal battles, represents a fundamental shift in the App Store landscape, potentially impacting Apple's revenue and offering developers more financial flexibility.
Given this backdrop, many developers hoped WWDC would be an opportunity for Apple to address the future of the App Store, perhaps announcing a reduction in commissions or outlining a clearer, more developer-friendly policy framework. Instead, the keynote offered nothing on this front. There was no discussion about making the App Store a better place to build a sustainable business, no updates on improving payment processing systems, and no focus on how Apple is actively combating the proliferation of scams that harm both developers and users.
While Apple did release some data in the days leading up to WWDC, highlighting its anti-fraud efforts and the total developer revenues generated, this felt like pre-keynote damage control rather than a genuine attempt to engage with the community's core concerns during the main event. The message conveyed by the keynote's silence was clear: despite legal defeats and developer outcry, Apple remains largely committed to its existing App Store model.
The only subtle nod to the changing regulatory environment was a minor tweak to the App Review Guidelines, changing the term “alternative app marketplace” to “alternative distribution.” This linguistic shift, while seemingly minor, reinforces Apple's stance that the App Store is the *only* true marketplace, and other methods are merely alternative ways to distribute apps, not competing platforms. This kind of subtle messaging does little to build trust with a developer base increasingly frustrated by Apple's perceived monopolistic practices.
Further fueling developer skepticism was a change observed in the initial developer beta of iOS 26: the App Store now defaults to the Search page upon opening. While seemingly innocuous, this change is interpreted by many as a push for developers to spend more on App Store Search ads to gain visibility. In an ecosystem where organic discovery is challenging, forcing users to the search page could increase reliance on paid promotion, further benefiting Apple's bottom line at the developers' expense.
New Features: Consumer Focus Over Developer Enablement?
Beyond AI and the App Store, WWDC 2025 introduced other new features and design elements. Apple debuted a standalone Games app, aiming to consolidate gaming experiences on iOS. However, the keynote's presentation of this app focused heavily on consumer-facing features like Challenges, social interactions, and easy access to Apple Arcade. Little was said about how this new app would specifically benefit mobile game developers, such as improved discovery mechanisms, new monetization opportunities beyond standard App Store practices, or tools to engage with the consolidated gaming community.
Another prominent announcement was the interface design overhaul dubbed Liquid Glass, inspired by the Vision Pro headset. This new aesthetic brings depth, translucency, and dynamic elements to the operating system interfaces. While visually appealing to consumers, the keynote offered no clear explanation or compelling reason for developers to invest the significant time and resources required to redesign their existing, perfectly functional apps to conform to these new guidelines. Apple could have framed Liquid Glass as a foundational step towards future computing platforms like AR glasses, hinting at the long-term value of adopting the new design language. However, true to its cultural preference for secrecy, Apple presented it primarily as an aesthetic update, leaving developers to wonder about the strategic importance and potential ROI of such a redesign effort.
The Disconnect: Performance vs. Partnership
The overall impression left by the WWDC 2025 keynote, particularly from a developer's standpoint, was one of a company prioritizing consumer delight and its own business interests over fostering a truly collaborative and supportive relationship with its developer community. The delayed AI features, the limited scope of AI integrations compared to competitors, the steadfast silence on App Store commissions despite legal pressure, the consumer-centric presentation of new features like the Games app and Liquid Glass, and the subtle push towards increased ad spending all contribute to this perception.
The decision to conclude the event with a performance celebrating App Store reviews, a system known to be grappling with issues of bots and fake reviews, felt particularly tone-deaf. It came across as a performative act of appreciation, a show designed to project an image of harmony and success, rather than a genuine reflection of the complex and often challenging relationship between Apple and its developers. Developers are not just passive participants in Apple's ecosystem; they are crucial partners whose innovation and investment are essential to the platform's vitality and Apple's continued success in selling hardware.
While more developer-specific information and tools will undoubtedly be unveiled in the subsequent Platforms State of the Union and individual sessions throughout the week, the keynote sets the tone. And the tone set at WWDC 2025 was one that, while celebrating Apple's achievements and consumer-facing innovations, failed to adequately acknowledge the significant hurdles and frustrations faced by the developers who make the App Store and the Apple ecosystem so valuable. It was a missed opportunity for Apple to demonstrate empathy, transparency, and a renewed commitment to partnership, choosing instead to sing its own praises while leaving many of its most critical partners feeling unheard and undervalued.