Apple Concedes To Let Apps Like Netflix, Spotify, and Kindle Link To the Web To Sign Up

While vocal app developers accused Apple last week of spinning a lawsuit settlement into an App Store change that was barely a change at all, the company appears to be making a true, if small concession today: Apple says it will let developers of "reader" apps (think Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon's Kindle app) directly link their customers to their own sign-up website, where they could potentially skirt Apple's in-app payment system (and its 30 percent cut) entirely, in those cases where they haven't already. From a report: In a press release, Apple claims that the move will close an investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), and that it'll only apply to those sorts of "reader" apps right now -- a category that was originally designed by Apple to placate companies like Netflix and Hulu by allowing them to let users simply sign into their existing account instead of signing up for a new subscription via the App Store (and having to pay Apple's fees).

The JFTC has confirmed the agreement in a press release of its own, saying that the move by Apple "would eliminate the suspected violation of the Antimonopoly Act." The commission, which has been investigating Apple since 2016, says the company has pledged to report on the status of app review transparency once a year for the next three years. According to the JFTC, Apple proposed changing its app review guidelines in response to the investigation.

But but but

[fred6666]

how will I sleep at night knowing that my iPhone is not secure? Because security was the reason for Apple to disallow 3rd party payment systems avoiding their 30% cut, right?

Re:

[jellomizer]

Normally you can have some trusted sources. Allowing some of these Apps to allow payments and stuff being installed, is not going to be a security concern. But say Fast Eddies, Super Free and Highly useful app store. May get more attention.

Re:

[saloomy]

App Store payments where not a part of the tech security, obviously. It does help to keep payment methods out of the hands of every app vendor you engage with, and it simplifies the management of payment methods, subscriptions, and provides a third party (Apple) to handle refunds, so you don't have to argue with each App vendor. They did provide a compensation mechanism to pay for the App Store security reviews, but thats neither here nor there. They could just charge Apps a publishing fee if they use alter

Re:

[alvinrod]

If you aren't giving your credit card to sleazy third parties then Id think you should sleep fairly well. If you do that and get screwed over then it's hardly Apple's fault and I'm sure the support representatives will be trained to tell you to take it up with the third party you did business with.

Re:

[Aighearach]

Wait, wait, did you just say that all companies other than Apple are sleazy? LOL
I guess you're monogamous; you only do business with one company!

Re:

[alvinrod]

I doubt that hundreds of billions of Apple's valuation is based on App Store sales. Their real money has always been in the expensive hardware they sell and refusing to sell anything that doesn't look like it carry the price premium of a luxury product. That and making so many of those products that economies of scale really kick in.

Look at it another way. Whatever weak government fine they were about to get slapped with was considered worse than the revenue they expect to lose from getting a bite out of

Re: baby steps

[martynhare]

Might be because Netflix, Spotify and others all took away the Apple Pay signup method for new users and added access to a limited selection of free content without needing payment info (to maintain compliance). As said revenue stream was already lost anyway, this change does Apple no harm but gets a regulator off their back. As per usual, the regulators got played.

Re: baby steps

[ami.one]

^ This.

Please help Tim Cook (no more 30% cut)

[fred6666]

I stared a go fund me campaign to help Tim Cook pay his bills:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/hel... [gofundme.com]

Okay, Netflix' turn

[Anonymous Crowded]

They took their farking ball and went home closing off the AppleTV API (not to be confused with AppleTV Hardware, AppleTV software or AppleTV service, yes, I'm serious).

For those that aren't familiar, the API on the hardware basically aggregates your subscription with streaming apps so you can be shown things to watch across everything you're paying for. I wouldn't call it great, but it's significantly better than any other service I've tried to centrally manage with.

From what I can tell, it's an easy

What the companies should have done instead....

[mark-t]

... is charge 30% more for using in-app payment than they do if they use the web service directly.

Re:

[_merlin]

Apple explicitly disallows that. You're not allowed to charge a higher price for using in-app purchases via Apple Pay. That's one of Epic's main complaints - they want to be able to charge more for in-app purchases of in-game items/currency to offset the 30% commission Apple charges.

Re:

[mjwx]

Apple explicitly disallows that. You're not allowed to charge a higher price for using in-app purchases via Apple Pay. That's one of Epic's main complaints - they want to be able to charge more for in-app purchases of in-game items/currency to offset the 30% commission Apple charges.

That will set a dangerous precedent.

A core component of any merchant agreement with a payment provider/aggregator is that you cannot offer the product or service for a lower price than you do on their service. This is for everyone from Priceline right up to Mastercard and Visa themselves. Yes, if stores added on what they need to pay to accept your card on top of the purchase price, people would stop using cards pretty damn quick.

Re:

[_merlin]

This is for everyone from Priceline right up to Mastercard and Visa themselves. Yes, if stores added on what they need to pay to accept your card on top of the purchase price, people would stop using cards pretty damn quick.

That's not universally true. In Australia, merchants are allowed to add a reasonable fee for a payment method to offset their costs. Merchants that choose to do so typically add 1% for Visa/Mastercard, 3% for AmEx, and 5% for Diners Club. People still use cards all the time, and plent

Re:

[mark-t]

Apple explicitly disallows that. You're not allowed to charge a higher price for using in-app purchases via Apple Pay.

Can you provide a specific citation for that, or are you just making shit up that fits with your assumptions? Can you point out exactly what wording in Apple's developer terms and conditions for iOS apps that suggests that developers are not allowed to charge more on iOS than they do on other platforms?

Very narrow exception

[Tony Isaac]

Apple says it will let developers of "reader" apps (think Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon's Kindle app) directly link their customers to their own sign-up website.

That's such a tiny slice of the appverse, it really won't make much of a dent in Apple's exorbitant app fees for the vast majority of developers out there--at least the ones that want to actually make money from their work.