The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday published a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who oversees the currently under fire App Store.
Even though Schiller made the move from marketing chief to “Apple Fellow” in 2020, which was supposed to allow him to spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is now working as much as 80 hours per week running the App Store.
Schiller, who was known as the late Steve Jobs’ “Mini-Me,” was the main proponent for an App Store in the iPhone’s early days. Under Schiller, human review has remained a key part of the App Store, and the App Store has grown into a major revenue stream for Apple. Schiller is known for immediately responding to emails and for answering calls any time of the day or night.
Apple’s App Store operation has increasingly come under attack, from regulators in the Justice Department, the European Union, and other jurisdictions as well as from rivals including Spotify, Microsoft, Match Group, X, and Meta Platforms. Critics see Apple’s fees as excessive and have suggested its control of external software is oppressive and impeding innovation.
Schiller has done his best to defend Apple’s App Store, testifying in the Epic v. Apple lawsuit in defense of Apple’s operations, and he is also involved in Apple’s EU messaging in Europe.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook defers to Schiller when it comes to App Store matters.
“I have no qualms in saying that our goal is going to always be to make the App Store the safest, best place for users to get apps,” Schiller recently told Fast Company. “I think users—and the whole developer ecosystem—have benefited from that work that we’ve done together with them. And we’re going to keep doing that.”