What the hell is this condescending, elitist, gatekeeping nonsense? $100 is a lot of money for some people. Hell, in some countries, that's a sizeable chunk of someone's monthly salary. We should be encouraging and supporting developers from all backgrounds, not just ones that are middle/upper class from developed countries.

Do people really write apps and maintain them as a hobby?

Maintenance is the hassle, especially when your app needs to adapt to 3rd party changes.

I've found a way to make a thousand people's life's a tiny bit easier, and it only costs me a couple of days per year, so I keep the apps running out of a sense of civic duty.

Having to pay one off the most profitable companies in the world before I can provide that service seems weird.

Like charging charity workers for the privilege of helping.

I've just checked the apple app store. They is an lack of apps in my niche, the nearest available is significantly more basic, costs $3 and has only one review.

And having said all that, Android's Play Store has been getting increasingly annoying with policy changes in recent years, and if it wasn't for the positive reviews I'd have abandoned the apps.