I'm a developer and I'm struggling with this. Here's some insight from my experience. I don't think it's Apple's fault, it's now that more people are making apps and features are getting more time consuming while customers are becoming less forgiving. Have a bug and immediately bunch of 1 star reviews will follow.

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I want to quit my job to develop the app full time but also I need to survive. Charging few bucks to get the app won't pay the bills.
Also developing the app on the side is not worth it. Why work 40 hours a week to make ends meet then instead of enjoying my life and time off I spend the rest of my it in my office going crazy making an app. I'd rather not make an app..
So if you have any ideas let me know, but I'm forced to go the subscription model unfortunately.