Apple hikes price on all apps in Canada

A shopper ltries out the new Apple iPhone 6 at the Apple Store on the first day of sales of the new phone in Germany on September 19, 2014 in Berlin, Germany.  Sean Gallup/Getty Images

 Michael Oliveira The Canadian Press $1.19 is the new .99 on Apple’s App Store in Canada.

Late Thursday, price increases that Apple blamed on the falling loonie began taking effect throughout the electronic marketplace.

The lowest-priced 99 cent apps are now 20 per cent more expensive.


For other apps under $10, most went up by about 15 per cent.

$1.99 apps are now $2.29, $2.99 apps are up to $3.49, $3.99 apps have risen to $4.59, and $4.99 apps are bumped up to $5.79.

Apple had warned developers on Wednesday that an unspecified price increase would soon be enacted in Canada, Norway and European Union countries.

Some app developers saw the move coming and welcomed it.

Mark Pavlidis, co-founder of Flixel Photos, says it helps Canadian developers who were getting short-changed on sales at home, given the loonie has been trading below par with the U.S. dollar for almost two years now.

“It’s a levelling of the playing field ensuring the revenue generated, or the cost for the customers, are on par globally,” says Pavlidis, who noted it’s the first time the Canadian App Store has seen a price change.