Apple App Store prices hiked in Australia, Indonesia and Sweden

Company says that fluctuations in the exchange rate have forced them to push prices up

(Getty)

The price of Apple’s App Store is set to increase.

Users in Australia, Indonesia and Sweden will see the price of apps and in-app subscriptions increase.

The company has said that the prices need to go up because of changes in foreign exchange rates. It’s not the first time that prices have had to rise, with Apple introducing higher prices in Europe earlier this year.

In Australia, apps that were once 0.99AUD will now be 1.29AUD. The rise will apply all across all different prices.

The change hits in-app purchases as well as the price of apps themselves. That means that if people have a recurring subscription through an app — to pay for a magazine, for instance — the price of that will be automatically updated too.

Apple said that it wouldn’t interrupt those subscriptions as it has in the past — usually requiring them to manually start again — but will send an email to subscribers in the effected countries to let them know that the price would be going up. That email will include an easy link to let people turn their subscriptions off, Apple said.

“When foreign exchange rates change, we sometimes need to update prices on the App Store,” the message sent to developers reads. It explains that apps and in-app purchases will become more expensive in Australia, Indonesia and Sweden.

Alongside the price rise, Apple will be offering its extra low-price tier as an option to developers for the first time outside of emerging markets. That will let people charge just 0.99AUD for an app, which is about $0.70 in US dollars.