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From the article : Apple responded, saying that free companion apps to paid online services are no longer required to have in-app purchases as of September 11,

From the article : Apple responded, saying that free companion apps to paid online services are no longer required to have in-app purchases as of September 11, 2020. As long as paid upgrades are not offered through the app and it has no notifications to customers about an external subscription service, everything is fine. So....

jm4 6y ago
So... Apple has a say in how or when a company communicates with its own customers inside of an app the company developed and customer chose to use simply because that app is running on an iPhone. This is asinine.
isoprophlex 6y ago
Not a protonmail user, but fastmail, which is in a similar boat i guess. I really hope this means fastmail won't be forced to start billing through IAP. Apple gets enough of my money already, and I don't want it eating up fastmails profit margins, as I think they offer a stellar product.
nvrspyx 6y ago
From the article, emphasis mine: > Out of the blue, one day they said you have to add in-app purchase to stay in the App Store. They stumbled upon something in the app that mentioned there were paid plans, they went to the website and saw there was a subscription you could purchase, and then turned around and demanded we add IAP. It's apparently not just "no notifications". Below is the actual Apple guidelines. Notice that it is not "notifications", but "call to action". In practice, it may be "slightest hint". > Free apps acting as a stand-alone companion to a paid web based tool (eg. VOIP, Cloud Storage, Email Services, Web Hosting) do not need to use in-app purchase, provided there is no purchasing inside the app, or calls to action for purchase outside of the app
politician 6y ago
If I were Protonmail, I would just start emailing customers about the subscription service instead of baking into the app. Maybe delay the campaign until after the app is accepted. This policy from Apple is ridiculous.
whatatita 6y ago
What's the "So.... [sic]" supposed to convey?
everybodyknows 6y ago
Right, but notice the poison pill: "... no notifications to customers about an external subscription service". Protonmail has a free tier, subject to resource limits: https://protonmail.com/pricing https://protonmail.com/pricing What should the app do when those limits are hit that Apple could not choose to call a "notification"?
- powersnail 6y ago
  Considering it's protonmail, email them the notification.
  - comeonseriously 6y ago
    Sounds like a notification.
    - qwertox 6y ago
      Isn't it normal for an email client to show a new-mail notification with the subject in it? Would it then depend on the wording of the subject?
      - cma 6y ago
        I believe it isn't OS-level notifications they are talking about, it's any notification in the app.
  - coder543 6y ago
    That's exactly the problem. Apple doesn't want any notification of this to be visible to the user in the app. The fact that the app handles the user's email isn't guaranteed to be a relevant distinction to the random reviewer who is tasked with reviewing the app. Apple has not spelled out clearly that this is okay for them to do, which means that it is a risk. The user would be receiving a literal iOS notification from this app that talks about upgrades available outside the app.
    - 6y ago
toddh 6y ago
They can also change it back any time they wish and on an app by app basis.

jm4 6y ago

So... Apple has a say in how or when a company communicates with its own customers inside of an app the company developed and customer chose to use simply because that app is running on an iPhone. This is asinine.

isoprophlex 6y ago

Not a protonmail user, but fastmail, which is in a similar boat i guess. I really hope this means fastmail won't be forced to start billing through IAP. Apple gets enough of my money already, and I don't want it eating up fastmails profit margins, as I think they offer a stellar product.

nvrspyx 6y ago

From the article, emphasis mine: > Out of the blue, one day they said you have to add in-app purchase to stay in the App Store. They stumbled upon something in the app that mentioned there were paid plans, they went to the website and saw there was a subscription you could purchase, and then turned around and demanded we add IAP. It's apparently not just "no notifications". Below is the actual Apple guidelines. Notice that it is not "notifications", but "call to action". In practice, it may be "slightest hint". > Free apps acting as a stand-alone companion to a paid web based tool (eg. VOIP, Cloud Storage, Email Services, Web Hosting) do not need to use in-app purchase, provided there is no purchasing inside the app, or calls to action for purchase outside of the app

politician 6y ago

If I were Protonmail, I would just start emailing customers about the subscription service instead of baking into the app. Maybe delay the campaign until after the app is accepted. This policy from Apple is ridiculous.

whatatita 6y ago

What's the "So.... [sic]" supposed to convey?

everybodyknows 6y ago

Right, but notice the poison pill: "... no notifications to customers about an external subscription service". Protonmail has a free tier, subject to resource limits: https://protonmail.com/pricing https://protonmail.com/pricing What should the app do when those limits are hit that Apple could not choose to call a "notification"?

powersnail 6y ago
Considering it's protonmail, email them the notification.
- comeonseriously 6y ago
  Sounds like a notification.
  - qwertox 6y ago
    Isn't it normal for an email client to show a new-mail notification with the subject in it? Would it then depend on the wording of the subject?
    - cma 6y ago
      I believe it isn't OS-level notifications they are talking about, it's any notification in the app.
- coder543 6y ago
  That's exactly the problem. Apple doesn't want any notification of this to be visible to the user in the app. The fact that the app handles the user's email isn't guaranteed to be a relevant distinction to the random reviewer who is tasked with reviewing the app. Apple has not spelled out clearly that this is okay for them to do, which means that it is a risk. The user would be receiving a literal iOS notification from this app that talks about upgrades available outside the app.
  - 6y ago

toddh 6y ago

They can also change it back any time they wish and on an app by app basis.