If you sign up for a subscription service inside an iOS app, you’ll likely pay a few extra bucks to cover the 30% fee Apple charges developers to use its services. That’s not changing (yet), but Apple made a small concession this week that allows developers of so-called “reader” apps to include an in-app link to their websites.
The move is a bid to settle an investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC). “While the agreement was made with the JFTC, Apple will apply this change globally to all reader apps on the store,” Apple says. “Reader apps provide previously purchased content or content subscriptions for digital magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video.”
Apps on the App Store are required to use Apple’s in-app payment system. The company now says that because reader apps “do not offer in-app digital goods and services for purchase,” Apple will allow them to “share a single link to their website to help users set up and manage their account.” But the change won’t go into effect until early 2022.
It’s unclear if reader apps will be able to explain inside their apps why they are including a link to their websites (“Click here to avoid paying more than you should!”), or if Apple will have strict guidelines for how and where a link can appear. In a press release, Apple said only that it will “update its guidelines and review process to make sure users of reader apps continue to have a safe experience on the App Store, [and] help developers of reader apps protect users when they link them to an external website to make purchases.”
Apple has faced increased pushback in recent years about its App Store policies from companies like Spotify and Netflix, which do not want to hand over that 30% cut to Apple.
In 2019, Spotify filed a complaint with the European Commission, which said Apple “introduced rules to the App Store that purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience.” Earlier this summer, the commission accused Apple of abusing its “dominant position for the distribution of music streaming apps through its App Store.” As Reuters reports, Apple is now facing a similar antitrust probe in India.
Netflix opted out of accepting in-app sign-ups in 2019, reportedly at a loss of up to $700,000 per day. Amazon also doesn’t support in-app iOS purchases of things like e-books and movies, to avoid giving its rival a nice chunk of change. You need to make your purchase via a web browser and then refresh your app to find that content in your library.
Last year, Apple said it would reduce its cut of in-app purchases from 30% to 15% in 2021, though it only applied to developers who earn less than $1 million in revenue per year from in-app purchases; Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify certainly wouldn’t qualify there.
More recently, Apple last week settled a class-action lawsuit over its App Store policies with a deal that would allow app developers to communicate directly with customers about alternative payment options outside of the App Store ecosystem. And this week, South Korea passed a bill that will require Apple and Google to allow developers to use third-party payment solutions in apps distributed via the App Store and Play Store.
Then there’s the headline-grabbing Epic Games case. Last year, the game maker added its own payment system to its iOS Fortnite app, resulting in the game being yanked from the App Store. The two companies are now locked in a very public legal battle over what rights Apple has to restrict developers’ payment options.
