Apple changed its App Store rules late Thursday to allow third-party iPhone application developers to steer customers toward their own websites to make purchases. The move comes after a years-long delay in complying with a court order.
The alteration in the rules should result in many iPhone apps allowing customers to pay for services and subscriptions without giving Apple a cut. Streaming music service Spotify became one of the first to take advantage of this major change to the App Store. The modification gives customers more buying options, and the hope is that this will save them money.
A significant change to iPhone App Store rules
In 2021, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ordered Apple to allow iPhone software developers to point customers to their own websites to make in-app purchases without giving Apple a percentage of the revenue.
Apple didn’t do it. But on Wednesday, the judge put her foot down and ordered the Mac-maker to comply immediately.
Late Thursday, Apple made the change. As it informed developers, “The App Review Guidelines have been updated for compliance with a United States court decision regarding buttons, external links, and other calls to action in apps.”
Under Gonzalez Rogers’ order, Apple now allows developers to include in their iPhone apps notifications and links so customers can easily make purchases outside the App Store and avoid using Apple’s payment system. Plus, the court order forbids Apple from showing customers ominous-sounding warnings when they follow links from apps to developers’ websites … something the company had been doing.
Apple plans to challenge the court order. During a conference call with Wall Street analysts Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company strongly disagrees with Gonzalez Rogers’ ruling.
“We’ve complied with the court’s order, and we’re going to appeal,” he said.
iOS developers jump on board
Many developers have clearly been waiting for these App Store changes.
Music streaming service Spotify quickly submitted an updated version of its app that allows subscribers to pay via its website. Apple approved the update.
The retro gaming emulator Delta also submitted an update “without all the external payment restrictions,” according to developer Riley Testut. So did Patreon, and likely many more.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
