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Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

developer.apple.com

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Re: Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

#141

Post by pjc50 »

dartharva wrote: post #5

In the same article: 3.1.1 In-App Purchase: If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, (by way of example: subscriptions, in-game currencies, game levels, access to premium content, or unlocking a full version), you must use in-app purchase. Apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, cryptocurrencies and cr…

.. wait, so what exactly is allowed for "steering" to your own website, if not subscriptions or content?

Re: Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

#142

Post by matwood »

behnamoh wrote: post #131
fundatus wrote: post #3

Sigh, not that I expected anything else from Apple at this point but of course they only change the rules for the US.

One word: greed. Apple as the company we used to know is long dead. I still buy MacBooks and iPhones but only because some remnant of the past still exists in them. The new company came up with Vision Pro, screwing Spotify over app commissions, screwing game developers users love (Epic), non-upgradeable devices, extremely difficult repairability, etc.

> One word: greed.

This is too easy of an answer. Would you take more money if I offered it to you?

My problem with Apple here is that I believe it's short sighted. Lack of compliance or whatever you want to call it, could threaten the whole business by forcing legislation and legal action.

Re: Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

#143

Post by rendaw »

jjice wrote: post #102
fundatus wrote: post #3

Sigh, not that I expected anything else from Apple at this point but of course they only change the rules for the US.

It seems pretty standard for tech companies. They did the same thing with EU only side-loading (not even sure if that's the right term for how restricted it is). They'll only make changes where they need to, whether it's the EU or the US, or even the UK (let's see how that encryption stuff turns out). As a business, I understand why they would - more revenue. At least there's some progress and I wouldn't be surprised…

It makes comparison easier though. If they did it everywhere, they could make claims about how cheaper or better it'd be for everyone if they didn't have to do it, but having both systems in place at once means people can just look across the lake and see.

Re: Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

#144

Post by troupo »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #127
troupo wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now for publishers, As if there are no developers who are also publishers.

If you're an indie developer who self-publishes, do you want to spend your time working on your app or on payment platform integrations? Especially the smaller self-publishing developers won't benefit from this at all. It's just the large publishers like Epic who can afford the developer resources to build their own payment systems who have something to gain here. Apple’s rules leveled the playing field. All this rul…

> If you're an indie developer who self-publishes, do you want to spend your time working on your app or on payment platform integrations?

Integrating with Stripe is easy. Or with Mollie. Or with...

> Especially the smaller self-publishing developers won't benefit from this at all.

Indeed. No one will benefit from not paying 30% of revenue to Apple.

Re: Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

#145

Post by pjc50 »

hnlmorg wrote: post #19
revskill wrote: post #6

Apple store needs to die. We have the web.

Ironically the App Store only exists because of the ridicule Apple received when they announced their new smartphone which then only supported 3rd party applications as web apps. Back then, native apps were considered a “must have” feature for smartphones. How times have changed.

Hmm. I'm not sure about this aspect of history. iPhone app store launch was July 2008, Play Store launch was October 2008. Symbian store was actually after this (yes, really) https://venturebeat.com/business/mobile-os-company-symbian-e...

Which app stores pre-dated iOS?

Now, Symbian and various others had apps, but you had to buy them through the carrier. And carriers were even worse gatekeepers than Apple!

Re: Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

#146

Post by post_break »

This is what bad management at Apple looks like. They were now forced to cut off the spice flow that is millions of dollars of IAPs from games in their coveted services pie chart because they got cocky. Roblox alone is going to show up on their balance chart. Epic throwing water on an oil fire with their comments make me grin, they are the reason Apple lowered AppStore pricing, and now they are the reason Apple can no longer collect rent from Patreon (which collects rent themselves). Epic won due to Apple's on hubris.

Re: Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

#147

Post by politician »

candiddevmike wrote: post #119
zackify wrote: post #112

Crazy. I thought hackernews didn’t care because this happened yesterday and I never saw anything! We’re updating our app in a couple days this will save a LOT of money. We will kick users out to web and pass a JWT in the url with a short lifespan to log the user in on web and then prompt for Apple Pay or credit card. Then a link back to our app’s deep link

So many questions: - Why not just handle all of this in the app? Do you think Apple won't allow it? - Are you geofencing this functionality? It seems like per other comments this is US only. - How are you handling existing subscribers (not sure if applicable)? Will you "encourage" them to migrate?

It'll be a nightmare to get an in-app change like this through their approval process. OP's solution to offload the entire thing to the web is a great stop-gap measure since when it is definitely rejected they can appeal through their App Store rep pointing to this external payment URL decision and have some small chance of getting it approved in the nearest term.

Re: Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

#148

Post by post_break »

coldcode wrote: post #69

At the risk of not piling on to the Apple dislike here, if you use a non-Apple payment system, and you have an issue, you now need to go to the specific company and payment system, you can no longer demand your money back by dealing with a single company. I presume even more scam apps will take your money and ignore your complaints; imagine trying to sue a company in some foreign country to try to get your money back…

If I charge back some random store because I didn't get what I ordered no problem. If I charge back Apple they can effectively shut my phone down and not allow me to install another App.

Re: Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

#149

Post by whywhywhywhy »

behnamoh wrote: post #131
fundatus wrote: post #3

Sigh, not that I expected anything else from Apple at this point but of course they only change the rules for the US.

One word: greed. Apple as the company we used to know is long dead. I still buy MacBooks and iPhones but only because some remnant of the past still exists in them. The new company came up with Vision Pro, screwing Spotify over app commissions, screwing game developers users love (Epic), non-upgradeable devices, extremely difficult repairability, etc.

Two words: Sales & Marketing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4VBqTViEx4

Re: Apple App Store guidelines remove ban on encouraging external payments in US

#150

Post by whywhywhywhy »

throwaway290 wrote: post #136
behnamoh wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One word: greed. Apple as the company we used to know is long dead. I still buy MacBooks and iPhones but only because some remnant of the past still exists in them. The new company came up with Vision Pro, screwing Spotify over app commissions, screwing game developers users love (Epic), non-upgradeable devices, extremely difficult repairability, etc.

> screwing Spotify over app commissions Spotify is the one who screws everyone. They deserve it > Epic Epic is another example of a shady company who doesn't want to give a cut from its micro transactions from users (users who are brought to them by Apple's innovation) > difficult repairability iPhone repairability score is 2-3 points higher than Pixel's according to iFixit. Only HMD beats iPhone.

>Spotify is the one who screws everyone. They deserve it

How? They pay the exact same percentage as Steam does to it's creators, 70%.

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