The dev said that the framework is completely disabled once you purchase the ad-free version.
Various people also confirmed that statement with anti-tracking software.
That was in response to your comparison with t-shirts.
And yes, scaling does not work in the same way for app development.
A large part of the required work for app development stays the same, regardless of how many actual users there are (excluding server costs (-> Sync Ultra) and probably the amount of support tickets).
But since Sync has way less users now, there has to be more income per user for it to be profitable.
You are comparing the old simple "Remove Ads" option to Sync Ultra features.
The new "Remove Ads" without additional features costs 14,99 €. Which, yes, is more expensive than before, but that was to be expected. The old price would have been way too cheap for today's pricing situation, especially since he also lost most of his userbase.
I don't think the article is trying to claim that labor exploitation is new.
This part directly admits that it is a very old phenomenon:
It’s been noted, and correctly so, that entertainment industry labor disputes often erupt when there’s a change in technology — from theaters screening projected films to the cathode ray tube of the home television, say, or the rise of YouTube and other online content in the 2000s — and that happens for a reason. Historically, executives and management use a disorienting new technology to try to justify lowering wages of their workers, and they have done so since the days of the Industrial Revolution.
As I understood it, the article just wants to explain why this is happening now, because historically it seems to happen in waves.
The dev said that the framework is completely disabled once you purchase the ad-free version. Various people also confirmed that statement with anti-tracking software.