Apple allows app makers to link to their own website with payment method
Apple will allow apps to include a link to an external website where customers can subscribe. That is the result of a ruling by the Japanese market watchdog, and not of the dispute and lawsuit between the company and Epic Games.
The change comes in response to a ruling by Japan’s Fair Trade Commission that oversees a free market. He previously started an investigation into Apple. The research looked at, among other things, the way in which Apple operates the App Store. No conclusion was drawn from the investigation; Apple itself made concessions to the JFTC during the research phase. The committee says that because of these concessions there is no longer any reason to continue the investigation. The investigation is therefore closed.
The most important commitment Apple has made is that app developers can now include a link in their apps that directs buyers or subscribers to their own website. Users can then create an account on that website and possibly take out a subscription or buy products, so that the app maker no longer has to pay a commission to Apple. The rule applies to “reader apps,” in which users can purchase “digital magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video.”
Games are not covered by the rules. Apple makes a lot of money from that. Apple can decide for itself what is or isn’t a ‘reader app’. While the JFTC’s investigation focuses only on the Japanese market, Apple says it is making the change globally. This will happen from ‘early 2022’, but the company does not mention a concrete date.
Developers are allowed to process a maximum of one link to their own website in the app. That may be a link to their own website where users can create an account. In practice, the rule will be especially interesting for services that require a subscription, such as Spotify or Netflix. Developers who offer in-app purchases are still required to include that option in the app, Apple writes. The company will soon be changing the rules for the App Store to accommodate the change.
The change comes in the midst of a fierce argument between Apple and various app developers. Under the leadership of Fortnite creator Epic Games, dozens of developers have united in the Coalition for App Fairness. Epic is now also filing a lawsuit against Apple over the mandatory payment on purchases from the App Store. The game developer wants to be able to introduce its own payment system in the iOS app, but that is not allowed under Apple’s rules. Apple’s alleged monopoly position is also under fire in other countries, both from politicians and regulators.
The change doesn’t mean enough, according to Epic. “Apple should completely open iOS based on hardware, stores, payment methods and services that all compete with each other,” writes Epic CEO Tim Sweeney on Twitter. “Instead, Apple is pursuing a divide-and-conquer strategy every day in the hopes that it will get away with their limitations.” Spotify is also skeptical. “A limited way of enabling control is not a fix for all our problems,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.