You've posted something you're happy with, it's doing nicely, and the Boost button is sitting right there underneath it. Tap, pick an amount, done.

If you do that in the Instagram or Facebook app on your iPhone, though, a chunk of your money never makes it to your ad.

Boost a post for $50 and you get $35 of ad. The missing $15 goes to Apple.

In this post, you'll learn:

• why boosting in the iPhone app hands 30% of your boost to Apple
• the two reasons I'd skip boosting in the app
• what to do instead, so your whole boost goes on your ad
• who the app is fine for, and who should give it a miss

Why I'd skip boosting from your iPhone: my take

Apple charges a 30% fee on purchases made inside iPhone apps. And it decided that boosting a post counts as one of those purchases.

Since 2024, Meta has passed that fee on to anyone boosting from the Instagram or Facebook app on an iPhone.

Here's the sneaky bit. The fee comes out of your boost, it doesn't get added on top. So the amount you pick looks exactly the same, and your ad quietly gets less of it. Most business owners I talk to have no idea it's happening.

This one hits small business owners hardest, because the boost button is right there on the phone in your hand. On the couch, in the car park, waiting at school pickup. Handy, sure. Just a very expensive kind of handy.

The drawbacks of boosting in the iPhone app

1. Apple takes 30% of your boost

$50 in, $35 of ad out. And it comes off every boost you do from the app, not only the first one.

For what, exactly? A post Apple has never even seen.

2. The boost button makes the calls for you

Boosting is built to be quick, and quick means it makes a lot of decisions on your behalf. Who sees your ad. What you're actually paying for. You get very little say in either.

That's true of the boost button wherever you press it. The iPhone app just takes Apple's 30% as well.

What to do instead

The fix is boring, which is my favourite kind.

Boost from your laptop. Same post, same boost, done on Facebook or Instagram in your web browser.

Or boost from a browser on your phone. Open facebook.com or instagram.com in your phone's browser (not the app) and boost from there. Same boost. Apple gets nothing.

Better again, use Meta Ads Manager on your laptop. It gives you more say over who sees your ad and what you're paying for, instead of letting the boost button make those calls for you.

And while you're there, leave the hashtags off. In an ad they turn into links, so they send people away from you and off to everyone else's posts.

Who's the app fine for, and who should skip it?

You're allowed to keep boosting. Just not in the app on your iPhone.

The fee is Apple's, so this is about the iPhone apps. If the convenience really is worth $15 in every $50 to you, that's your call to make (it's your money, after all).

If you'd rather every dollar of your boost went on your ad, do it from your laptop or your phone's browser instead.

Final thoughts: it's all about what works for you

Keep boosting if it's working for you. Just do it somewhere Apple can't take a cut.

And if making the post in the first place is the slow bit for you, my 20-Minute Carousel Workshop replay shows you how to make an Instagram carousel in about 20 minutes. You'll watch me build two, one right inside the Instagram app and one with Claude.

Get the 20-Minute Carousel replay

Know someone who boosts from the couch? Send them this. They'll thank you (eventually).