Since each addition to this list means fewer payments to Apple there must be very special reasons for adding to this list. It has been pointed out by several people that this list has a lot of overlap with paid services offered by Apple. approved services such as classroom management apps.They include (and are specifically limited to): The most curious exceptions are listed in section 3.1.3(a) under the heading “Reader” Apps. So even Apple realized that this was too restrictive and it would needlessly bar many types of apps from the App Store. But then this is followed by with several exceptions to this rule. That is essentially what Apple says in paragraph 3.1.1 of the App Store Review Guidelines. One one extreme end of the spectrum would be that all apps have to use Apple’s IAP for unlocking any feature or functionality in the app, and no alternative mechanisms for payment would be allowed. Let’s try to find a clear line that divides apps that must use Apple’s IAP from those that don’t. So it’s not exactly been well defined and stable rules in this, the most consequential part of our apps: how we get paid. The above history lesson skips over episodes like where you could offer purchases on your website inside a web view, but only for a brief time before you had to launch Safari to the same URL, before all such links became forbidden. Therefore Apple’s original argument rings very hollow today and it’s not a stretch to see it more as “ rent-seeking”. This may give the impression that Apple served up a new customer to you on a silver platter, but in reality Apple had very little to do with the discovery. They all refer you to the App Store with a link so that you can install the app. I would argue that most people find new apps via friends, social media and other articles outside the App Store. The other major mechanism to discover an app is through search, and we all know what a joke search is on the App Store. But only a very small fraction of apps can be surfaced by Apple’s editorial team. The recent addition of curated content on the Today tab of the App Store app is great and I happily give Apple a commission every time a new customer finds one of my apps this way. (Ironically, “Hey” may be an exception to this.)įor Apple to make good on their claim to bring customers to apps they need to provide a great way to discover apps in the App Store. Never mind that it does not take a genius to type in “Netflix” or “Salesforce” into a search engine to figure out how to sign up for their service. We’ve probably all had app rejections where app review finds a link or a mention deep inside the app that could be followed back to your website. In order to preserve this division of who brought the customer, Apple decreed that you could not link to your website or encourage customers to leave the app and sign up to your service outside the app. Steve Jobs made the argument that when Apple brought a paying customer to a publisher Apple deserved to be paid 30% for it, and when existing subscribers paid they could do so outside of the App Store and Apple would not receive any commission. When In-App Purchases were launched in 2009 it was initially targeted at selling digital content like books and magazines I worked on the Zinio magazine reader and the Iceberg book reader apps at the time. It’s an impossible task to create rules that will please everyone, but is it possible to create ones that are more clear, leave fewer gray areas and can endure over time? Since the beginning of the App Store there have been complaints about Apple’s 30% cut, it’s app review rules and the enforcement of them.
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