Have you ever seen a freebox that required payment? I haven't, because they don't exist. Credit cards are for a price. The App Store is mostly free items, that require a credit card. What are they doing wrong, and how do we fix it? Thank you.
"You can choose to remove the payment method for your existing Apple ID".You do not need to provide any payment info to access and download apps from the Appstore.
If you already have an Apple ID You can choose to remove the payment method for your existing Apple ID after you have signed in to the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBooks Store. You won't be asked for a payment method again until you make a purchase.
And then there are of course plenty of free (as in “free to use, no restrictions, full functionality ”) apps, please download e.g. Snapseed, Collabora Office, et cetera.
You are probably referring to “free to download” apps with an “in app purchase”-option or apps which implement some gacha system (?) - for which you obviously have to provide payment info if you choose to purchase any “premium content” - please do not take ”premium” literally here. 🤣😁
Otherwise: developers deserve to be paid, right? Whether you pay the asking price it’s up to you.
Nota bene: I personally do not like gacha systems at all, or subscriptions, but I can see the argument why developers choose them, because single-purchase prices on iOS/iPadOS overall were and still are mostly ridiculously low.
You do not have to supply one.I wasn't asking how to remove a payment method. I am asking how to download a free app without adding a payment method in the first place.