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They seem to have increased restrictions on purchases outside Apple's control (section on 'Purchasing and currencies'). Subscriptions Outside of an App

They seem to have increased restrictions on purchases outside Apple's control (section on 'Purchasing and currencies'). Subscriptions Outside of an App Subscribers to magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video and cloud storage services who were acquired outside of your app can read or play content through the app. However, you may not provide external links in your app that allow users to purchase subscriptions outside of the app. Sure, they've created the OS, but this is starting to feel a bit like a troll guarding a bridge, forcing every one to pay up to walk across.

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ProAm 11y ago
> this is starting to feel a bit like a troll guarding a bridge, forcing every one to pay up to walk across. Starting? This has been the way Apple does business for over a decade now. For years they charged people just for the privilege to develop software on their own device.
nicolas_t 11y ago
We got caught with this when developing an app... It was really annoying going back and forth with the reviewers until they accepted the app (even links to the website without linking to the pages where people can purchase the app was forbidden).
fbuilesv 11y ago
I could be wrong here but I think this has been in place for a while now (starting around the same time the whole Amazon debate started).
jeff_tyrrill 11y ago
This is not new. This was put in place in 2011. This is why the Kindle app (for example) does not allow you to buy books in the app, and the Amazon app can order physical goods but not downloads. http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/09/apple-reverses-course-on-in-app-subscriptions/ http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/09/apple-reverses-course-on...
joemi 11y ago
I don't know why anyone would expect it to be another way. I don't mind Apple's walled garden, but still, it's a walled garden and this restriction fits pretty well with the shrewd concept of that garden. Related: Amazon restricts sellers in their site's (not app) marketplace from sending links to an external website, for fear of letting someone buy a product through another site. When I was selling books on Amazon for a book store, we'd get many requests through Amazon from customers asking to see our store's website, or asking if they could visit our store, and I learned pretty quickly that the only answer I could give and not get into trouble with Amazon was "I'd like to answer that but Amazon doesn't allow me to". Sometimes if I were feeling bold, I'd suggest that the customer google our store's name for more info.

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ProAm 11y ago

> this is starting to feel a bit like a troll guarding a bridge, forcing every one to pay up to walk across. Starting? This has been the way Apple does business for over a decade now. For years they charged people just for the privilege to develop software on their own device.

nicolas_t 11y ago

We got caught with this when developing an app... It was really annoying going back and forth with the reviewers until they accepted the app (even links to the website without linking to the pages where people can purchase the app was forbidden).

fbuilesv 11y ago

I could be wrong here but I think this has been in place for a while now (starting around the same time the whole Amazon debate started).

jeff_tyrrill 11y ago

This is not new. This was put in place in 2011. This is why the Kindle app (for example) does not allow you to buy books in the app, and the Amazon app can order physical goods but not downloads. http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/09/apple-reverses-course-on-in-app-subscriptions/ http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/09/apple-reverses-course-on...

joemi 11y ago

I don't know why anyone would expect it to be another way. I don't mind Apple's walled garden, but still, it's a walled garden and this restriction fits pretty well with the shrewd concept of that garden. Related: Amazon restricts sellers in their site's (not app) marketplace from sending links to an external website, for fear of letting someone buy a product through another site. When I was selling books on Amazon for a book store, we'd get many requests through Amazon from customers asking to see our store's website, or asking if they could visit our store, and I learned pretty quickly that the only answer I could give and not get into trouble with Amazon was "I'd like to answer that but Amazon doesn't allow me to". Sometimes if I were feeling bold, I'd suggest that the customer google our store's name for more info.