Apple has delivered on its promise to update the App Store Review Guidelines following the settlement of a class-action lawsuit alleging it had an “abusive monopoly” over the marketplace.
The company said in August that it would allow iOS developers to inform their customers of payment options outside of the App Store, introduce new price points for the App Store, and establish a $100 million fund for devs who’ve made less than $1 million since 2016.
Apple updated the App Store Review Guidelines on Oct. 22 with some of those changes. The company made these modifications specifically because of the lawsuit’s settlement:
- Deleted from 3.1.3. “Developers cannot use information obtained within the app to target individual users outside of the app to use purchasing methods other than in-app purchase (such as sending an individual user an email about other purchasing methods after that individual signs up for an account within the app).”
- Added 5.1.1 (x). “Apps may request basic contact information (such as name and email address) so long as the request is optional for the user, features and services are not conditional on providing the information, and it complies with all other provisions of these guidelines, including limitations on collecting information from kids.”
These changes aren’t as extensive as some might have wanted. Developers still can’t use alternative payment solutions within their apps; they can only inform customers who are willing to share their contact information of the ways they can pay that don’t involve the App Store.
Bigger changes were supposed to arrive following the Sep. 10 ruling in the Apple vs. Epic Games case, which resulted in an injunction that required Apple to let developers link directly to alternative payment options in their apps, but Apple has fought to delay that requirement.
