The iPhone maker’s latest concession in a long-standing struggle with app developers was announced Wednesday in response to an investigation initiated by Japan’s Fair Trade Commission.
The update, which will take effect in early 2022 and will be applied worldwide, will allow developers to apple (AAPL) calls for “reader” applications to insert a link to external websites and allow people to set up or manage their accounts there.
These apps provide previously purchased content or subscriptions for magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video, according to Apple. Amazon Video and Kindle are also frequently cited as examples of reader applications.
Spotify and Netflix once allowed users to pay for services from the app, but have since stopped this form of billing for new members amid a dispute with Apple over the heavy commission it charges. Downloading the Netflix app, for example, will allow you to sign in, but only if you have an existing account. Otherwise, the app tells you to “join and come back” once you have an account.
Spotify did not immediately respond to a request from CNN Business to comment on the change. Netflix declined to comment.
“To ensure a secure and seamless user experience, App Store guidelines require developers to sell digital services and subscriptions through the payment system built into Apple’s app,” Apple said, adding which allows for change “because reader app developers don’t” offer digital in-app purchase products and services. “
The update will make it easier for some developers to avoid the heavy loads imposed by Apple. The company’s commissions reach up to 30% on some purchases made through its platform. The developers have said they have little choice but to comply, as Apple does not allow customers to download apps from any source other than the company’s official store.
‘Divide and conquer’?
The issue is at the heart of an EU antitrust investigation and a lawsuit filed against Apple by Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite. A verdict on the Fortnite case must be delivered any day. Epic CEO
Tim Sweeney tweeted Wednesday at the end that Apple’s “special deal” for some multimedia apps equated to the latest in a “day-to-day calculation of splitting and conquering in hopes of overcoming most of its tying practices.”
“Apple should open up iOS based on competing hardware, stores, payments, and services individually and on its own merits,” he wrote.
Apple’s announcement comes about a week after the company said it would relax some restrictions on how iPhone app makers could communicate with customers outside of their App Store.
The company said last week that “developers can use communications, such as email, to share information about payment methods outside of their iOS app,” as long as users consent to the receipt of those emails. and have the right to disable them.
The announcement also comes after South Korea passed a law that will allow developers to select the payment systems that will be used to process purchases from the app. This means that it is possible that the heavy charges imposed by Apple and Google (GOOGL).
– Michelle Toh and Rishi Iyengar contributed to this report.
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