Every iOS app depends on third parties: Apple, since that is the platform the app runs on; any libraries or development platforms built into the app; if the app talks to a server, the server is a dependency, and of course all the dependencies the server has...
Somewhere along these lines, the software will need to be updated repeatedly: security updates, API changes, SDK changes, etc.
Software just does not stand still like we think it does from the consumer perspective. Any app in production is going to have maintenance costs and forced upgrades that will be an ongoing cost to the developer.
I grew up in a world where software came on a disc, I bought it and installed it it was mine. A perpetual subscription model feels to me like ransomware--"pay up or you'll never see your app again." But I have to admit that I know that the costs of having an app in production today are continuous.
