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Apple policies explicitly forbid this. While you can use subscriptions from on the website, the app cannot in any way suggest that you do that, nor can it link

Apple policies explicitly forbid this. While you can use subscriptions from on the website, the app cannot in any way suggest that you do that, nor can it link to a page that directly (one click away) lets you do it.

freedomben 8y ago
Wow, that's interesting. Suddenly the class action lawsuit against Apple claiming they've abused their monopoly makes a lot more sense (not saying I agree with it, just that it makes more sense. I neither agree nor disagree: I'm way too ill informed to have an opinion).
- DennisAleynikov 8y ago
  this is precisely why apple gets these tax complaints. their platform is hostile to users trying to have choice on their platform. players like netflix are the only ones able and willing to stand up to apples practices in running a hyper controlling app store with bizzare monetary policies.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    Any provider can have subscriptions outside of the store and still distribute on the platform.
    - pentae 8y ago
      This is completely false in practice. Especially in the last 12 months.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        Again we have an existence proof that this is true. DirectvNow, Amazon, Google Play, Sling, ACloudGuru....
        pentae 8y ago
        If you had a stronger grasp on the IAP rules you'd understand that many of those services don't fall under the IAP requirement because they exist 'outside of the app' or are real world products being sold. No, you don't have to pay Apple 30% on the 12 pack of toilet paper you bought on Amazon, or the Uber, or a Cable TV subscription. So this isn't the correct comparison central to your argument.
        scarface74 8y ago
        Yes I do understand the rules. Amazon Video - subscription outside of the app that lets you play prime movies or you can purchase or rent a movie from Amazon’s website and watch it on the app. Amazon Kindle - you can buy a book on Amazon’s website and download it to the app. Coxmixology - again, you can buy a comic on the website and use it on the app. SlingTV - you buy a subscription on the website and stream video on the app. DirecTVNow - same as above. Google Play Video - same as Amazon Video. Spotify - subscription you buy on the website and stream music on the app. Should I continue?
- zaidf 8y ago
  This needs to goto the Supreme Court, hopefully sooner rather than later.
- nvo 8y ago
  For Apple to abuse their monopoly they should have one to begin with.
- dan1234 8y ago
  What monopoly does Apple have? They don’t have a majority share of any platform. Any app makers not happy should boycott the platform and just release Android apps. Of course, they’d also need to avoid the Google Play store as they have pretty similar rates to the App store[0] [0]https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622 https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ...
  - tokyodude 8y ago
    AFAIK that's not how it works. For example go look up Microsoft's monopoly. The commonly held believe is Microsoft was declared to have a monopoly on personal computer OSes but that is false. Microsoft was found to have a monopoly on OSes for Intel based machines. So by that same logic Apple has a monopoly on OSes for A series (A10, A11, A12) based smartphones. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor....
    - zapzupnz 8y ago
      Can a company have a monopoly over its own products? That doesn't make sense.
      - kbwt 8y ago
        iOS apps aren't Apple's products.
        zapzupnz 8y ago
        I was talking about the processor series.
    - macintux 8y ago
      A-series chips are just (very good) ARMs. I don’t buy that equivalence at all.
  - freedomben 8y ago
YetAnotherNick 8y ago
It sound weird to me as an Indian. Apple supports almost zero debit cards in India and no net banking. All the apps provide 10s of different ways to pay inside the app including amazon, uber, zomato(food delivery app) and their competitors. I don’t know about Netflix but still I can bet we can add credit card inside app.
- joshtynjala 8y ago
  Apple allows physical items or services to be purchased without Apple's payment infrastructure. The strict rules and 30% fee apply to "digital" subscriptions/items only.
- andrekandre 8y ago
  apples “tax” is for digital items sold for use in the app itself; for physical things or download codes for game consoles etc, then apples “tax” doesn’t apply (yet heh) technically it’s called “in-app purchase” [1] [1] https://developer.apple.com/in-app-purchase/ https://developer.apple.com/in-app-purchase/

freedomben 8y ago

Wow, that's interesting. Suddenly the class action lawsuit against Apple claiming they've abused their monopoly makes a lot more sense (not saying I agree with it, just that it makes more sense. I neither agree nor disagree: I'm way too ill informed to have an opinion).

DennisAleynikov 8y ago
this is precisely why apple gets these tax complaints. their platform is hostile to users trying to have choice on their platform. players like netflix are the only ones able and willing to stand up to apples practices in running a hyper controlling app store with bizzare monetary policies.
- scarface74 8y ago
  Any provider can have subscriptions outside of the store and still distribute on the platform.
  - pentae 8y ago
    This is completely false in practice. Especially in the last 12 months.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      Again we have an existence proof that this is true. DirectvNow, Amazon, Google Play, Sling, ACloudGuru....
      - pentae 8y ago
        If you had a stronger grasp on the IAP rules you'd understand that many of those services don't fall under the IAP requirement because they exist 'outside of the app' or are real world products being sold. No, you don't have to pay Apple 30% on the 12 pack of toilet paper you bought on Amazon, or the Uber, or a Cable TV subscription. So this isn't the correct comparison central to your argument.
        scarface74 8y ago
        Yes I do understand the rules. Amazon Video - subscription outside of the app that lets you play prime movies or you can purchase or rent a movie from Amazon’s website and watch it on the app. Amazon Kindle - you can buy a book on Amazon’s website and download it to the app. Coxmixology - again, you can buy a comic on the website and use it on the app. SlingTV - you buy a subscription on the website and stream video on the app. DirecTVNow - same as above. Google Play Video - same as Amazon Video. Spotify - subscription you buy on the website and stream music on the app. Should I continue?
zaidf 8y ago
This needs to goto the Supreme Court, hopefully sooner rather than later.
nvo 8y ago
For Apple to abuse their monopoly they should have one to begin with.
dan1234 8y ago
What monopoly does Apple have? They don’t have a majority share of any platform. Any app makers not happy should boycott the platform and just release Android apps. Of course, they’d also need to avoid the Google Play store as they have pretty similar rates to the App store[0] [0]https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622 https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ...
- tokyodude 8y ago
  AFAIK that's not how it works. For example go look up Microsoft's monopoly. The commonly held believe is Microsoft was declared to have a monopoly on personal computer OSes but that is false. Microsoft was found to have a monopoly on OSes for Intel based machines. So by that same logic Apple has a monopoly on OSes for A series (A10, A11, A12) based smartphones. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor....
  - zapzupnz 8y ago
    Can a company have a monopoly over its own products? That doesn't make sense.
    - kbwt 8y ago
      iOS apps aren't Apple's products.
      - zapzupnz 8y ago
        I was talking about the processor series.
  - macintux 8y ago
    A-series chips are just (very good) ARMs. I don’t buy that equivalence at all.
- freedomben 8y ago

YetAnotherNick 8y ago

It sound weird to me as an Indian. Apple supports almost zero debit cards in India and no net banking. All the apps provide 10s of different ways to pay inside the app including amazon, uber, zomato(food delivery app) and their competitors. I don’t know about Netflix but still I can bet we can add credit card inside app.

joshtynjala 8y ago
Apple allows physical items or services to be purchased without Apple's payment infrastructure. The strict rules and 30% fee apply to "digital" subscriptions/items only.
andrekandre 8y ago
apples “tax” is for digital items sold for use in the app itself; for physical things or download codes for game consoles etc, then apples “tax” doesn’t apply (yet heh) technically it’s called “in-app purchase” [1] [1] https://developer.apple.com/in-app-purchase/ https://developer.apple.com/in-app-purchase/