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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

#81

Post by troupo »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #56
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…

> Oof, I don't envy app developers who have to tolerate this bullshit You're confusing developers with publishers. Developers love this shit, one simple API that's built in to the OS and you can support payments worldwide instead of having to integrate with dozens of payment providers all with their own quirky APIs. Now for publishers, who want to maximise their profit margins and who don't have to actually write the…

> Now for publishers,

As if there are no developers who are also publishers.

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

#82

Post by HDThoreaun »

fkyoureadthedoc wrote: post #77
arghwhat wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd personally never go somewhere else to pay for your subscription or content. When "going elsewhere" means "getting stuff cheaper", people are likely going to go elsewhere to pay for any subscription even if setup is notably less convenient.

Depends how much cheaper. If my Shonen Jump subscription goes from $2 to $1.70, I'd rather pay the 30 cents than have to click and type for 2 minutes, and then have to solve a mystery to cancel it later. If my ChatGPT Pro (hypothetical, I don't pay for that) went from $200 to $170, maybe worth it.

why not let everyone decide for themselves if they want to pay the extra to do the purchase in app?

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

#83

Post by maxehmookau »

nozzlegear wrote: post #55
maxehmookau wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure EU apps can link elsewhere for payment, but they have to show a warning message first saying that the payment is outside of Apple's jurisdiction and you can't get a refund from apple, etc.

Am I crazy or was this not already possible in the US? When I tried to sign up for Disney Plus to watch the new season of Andor, Disney told me I had to complete the signup outside of the app. Then I got a big warning from Apple saying I was no longer transacting with Apple and wouldn't be able to cancel the subscription or get refunds via the App Store if I continued. Am I misunderstanding what this trial was about?…

Oh, worst of all, the app owners still have to pay apple's cut!

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

#84

Post by lapcat »

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…

> When Apple controlled the payment system, Apple could be sued in your home country.

Have any App Store consumers sued Apple? And were they successful?

Apple does refuse App Store refunds all the time. Apple also closes consumer Apple accounts all the time, for some reason or no reason, often refusing to tell the consumer the reason, alleging some kind of fraud, in which case the consumer loses everything they've ever purchased. One of the reasons, though, is consumers doing a chargeback on their credit card, which Apple hates and punishes severely.

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

#85

Post by MaKey »

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…

This hasn't happened to the Android ecosystem, so why should it happen to the Apple ecosystem now?

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

#86

Post by JustExAWS »

mschuster91 wrote: post #62
maccard wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What app used to be $10 and is now a $300/year subscription?

Try to keep Tetris ad free. 6.99 a month, and they label that as a "special deal".

And the original official Tetris game was $0.99 ad free one time purchase as was classic Angry Birds

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

#87

Post by UncleMeat »

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…

You are free to only use apps that use apple payments if you are concerned about this.

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

#88

Post by JustExAWS »

protimewaster wrote: post #35
JustExAWS wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re an Indy developer making less than 1 million a year, you are paying 15%. Is it really not worth 15% (where if your product has value you should be able to charge enough to make up the difference) for credit card processing (3%-4%) and distribution?

I think the issue is not about what it's worth, but what they should be allowed to charge for. To me, the argument about "what it's worth" is fundamentally wrong. As an extreme example, if some company found a way to charge me $100 every day or my head would explode, that obviously is worth $100 to most of us. However, I'm currently not having to pay any company to prevent my head from exploding, so maybe that's just…

Name one platform or even retail physical goods store that has less than a 15% markup from the wholesale price?

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

#89

Post by JanSt »

arghwhat wrote: post #52
JanSt wrote: post #7

Only in the US feels like shooting themselves in the foot again. The EU is already cracking down on them for their malicious compliance with the DMA, and it’s only a matter of time before similar pressure builds

The problem is that "shooting themselves in the foot" also translates to "earning more money for a longer time".

Probably true. The EU needs to enact daily fines for non-compliance, going back to the day the legislation came into power.

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

#90

Post by alt227 »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #49
hnlmorg wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> How times have changed. They really haven't. 'Web apps' are terrible, both from an end-user and developer perspective. They are a bloated, overcomplicated mess.

> They are a bloated, overcomplicated mess.

Id like to hear your opinion on native apps built on a unified framework like react native. IMO they are a much buggier mess than web apps.

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