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Jason was planning to challenge the App Store rejection after the fix for the WireGuard regression has been published, though I'm not sure what's the current st

Jason was planning to challenge the App Store rejection after the fix for the WireGuard regression has been published, though I'm not sure what's the current state of the issue. The rejection is wrong, because the App Store review guidelines clearly spell out that apps may request donations through Safari. On the other hand, apps cannot use in-app purchases to request donations, unless they are published by an approved nonprofit. 3.2.2 Unacceptable (iv) Unless you are an approved nonprofit or otherwise permitted under Section 3.2.1 (vi) above, collecting funds within the app for charities and fundraisers. Apps that seek to raise money for such causes must be free on the App Store and may only collect funds outside of the app, such as via Safari or SMS. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/ https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/

jaywalk 6y ago
The wording is vague enough that having a link in your app for donations could easily be (and apparently is) considered a violation.
- dessant 6y ago
  Having a link to an external web page to receive donations is not considered a violation on the App Store, this is a mistake by a reviewer. Collecting funds "within the app" means that the payment flow is completed without leaving the app. They explicitly list two ways for any app to accept donations, by redirecting the user to an external web service opened in Safari, or by collecting payments using a text message. You obviously have to somehow communicate to the user that donations can be made, and that is allowed to happen by showing an external link.
  - vaduz 6y ago
    > "Having a link to an external web page to receive donations [by a registered charity or a non-profit] is not considered a violation on the App Store" Which e.g. "PayPal@zx2c4.com" is not, clearly. The words you are missing are important. One of the reasons why I do not gift money to WireGuard developer(s) is that they have taken the steps to obscure where and to whom the money is going, which is in and of itself fishy. Just labelling something as 'donation' does not make it so. [Edit: line breaks]
    - dessant 6y ago
      Only nonprofits are allowed to use in-app purchases on the App Store, while other apps must use Safari for fundraisers, read the guidelines in their entirety. > One of the reasons why I do not gift money to WireGuard developer(s) is that they have taken the steps to obscure where and to whom the money is going, which is in and of itself fishy. Just labelling something as 'donation' does not make it so. Your remark about WireGuard developers being fishy and obscuring where the money goes is ridiculous, and the way you framed it, just... wow.
      - vaduz 6y ago
        I actually read them, and they also happen to be quoted upthread. 3.2 Other Business Model Issues [list is not exhaustive] 3.2.1 Acceptable (vi) Approved nonprofits may fundraise directly within their own apps or third-party apps, provided those fundraising campaigns adhere to all App Review Guidelines and offer Apple Pay support. These apps must disclose how the funds will be used, abide by all required local and federal laws, and ensure appropriate tax receipts are available to donors. Additional information shall be provided to App Review upon request. Nonprofit platforms that connect donors to other nonprofits must ensure that every nonprofit listed in the app has also gone through the nonprofit approval process. Learn more about becoming an approved nonprofit. 3.2.2 Unacceptable (iv) Unless you are an approved nonprofit or otherwise permitted under Section 3.2.1 (vi) above, collecting funds within the app for charities and fundraisers. Apps that seek to raise money for such causes must be free on the App Store and may only collect funds outside of the app, such as via Safari or SMS. It would appear that the current understanding is that if you are not a nonprofit, you don't fundraise within the app nor do you provide a link where you can transfer funds. If you are a nonprofit, you can register through the nonprofit program to use Apple Pay (which comes with actual checks of the status). This matches the intent every other point regarding payments, where soliticing money from within the app, even by way of link, is generally prohibited unless specifically allowed under one of the small list of exceptions. Remember when "reader" apps also had to remove links to purchase individual items and replaced it with, at best, "visit our website"? Same intent, same result. As for fishiness, compare these examples: * Signal Technology Foundation is a registered nonprofit foundation, I can check if the money is going to development of Signal (it is). They even do it right by providing the EIN so it is trivial to check. * Mozilla Foundation is a registered nonprofit foundation, I can check if the money is going to the development of the browser (it is not). * WireGuard developers decided it is important for them to keep the information where their business is located private (this is what I am referring to as fishy: I would challenge you to find where that particular "Edge Security" firm is actually operating, as a company, or what zx2c4.com is beside a name that Jason used to tag some files and host a domain, and both are used as "this project is from") and to keep the profits. See the difference? Two are genuine nonprofits entitled to donations, one is a business disguised as one (how much money that business makes is immaterial, it could be $1, it could be millions - I sincerely wish them the latter). Every developer has to make a living somehow - or at least recoup some costs, for FOSS projects - but this is not the way to go about it if you want to claim moral high ground over Apple.

jaywalk 6y ago

The wording is vague enough that having a link in your app for donations could easily be (and apparently is) considered a violation.

dessant 6y ago
Having a link to an external web page to receive donations is not considered a violation on the App Store, this is a mistake by a reviewer. Collecting funds "within the app" means that the payment flow is completed without leaving the app. They explicitly list two ways for any app to accept donations, by redirecting the user to an external web service opened in Safari, or by collecting payments using a text message. You obviously have to somehow communicate to the user that donations can be made, and that is allowed to happen by showing an external link.
- vaduz 6y ago
  > "Having a link to an external web page to receive donations [by a registered charity or a non-profit] is not considered a violation on the App Store" Which e.g. "PayPal@zx2c4.com" is not, clearly. The words you are missing are important. One of the reasons why I do not gift money to WireGuard developer(s) is that they have taken the steps to obscure where and to whom the money is going, which is in and of itself fishy. Just labelling something as 'donation' does not make it so. [Edit: line breaks]
  - dessant 6y ago
    Only nonprofits are allowed to use in-app purchases on the App Store, while other apps must use Safari for fundraisers, read the guidelines in their entirety. > One of the reasons why I do not gift money to WireGuard developer(s) is that they have taken the steps to obscure where and to whom the money is going, which is in and of itself fishy. Just labelling something as 'donation' does not make it so. Your remark about WireGuard developers being fishy and obscuring where the money goes is ridiculous, and the way you framed it, just... wow.
    - vaduz 6y ago
      I actually read them, and they also happen to be quoted upthread. 3.2 Other Business Model Issues [list is not exhaustive] 3.2.1 Acceptable (vi) Approved nonprofits may fundraise directly within their own apps or third-party apps, provided those fundraising campaigns adhere to all App Review Guidelines and offer Apple Pay support. These apps must disclose how the funds will be used, abide by all required local and federal laws, and ensure appropriate tax receipts are available to donors. Additional information shall be provided to App Review upon request. Nonprofit platforms that connect donors to other nonprofits must ensure that every nonprofit listed in the app has also gone through the nonprofit approval process. Learn more about becoming an approved nonprofit. 3.2.2 Unacceptable (iv) Unless you are an approved nonprofit or otherwise permitted under Section 3.2.1 (vi) above, collecting funds within the app for charities and fundraisers. Apps that seek to raise money for such causes must be free on the App Store and may only collect funds outside of the app, such as via Safari or SMS. It would appear that the current understanding is that if you are not a nonprofit, you don't fundraise within the app nor do you provide a link where you can transfer funds. If you are a nonprofit, you can register through the nonprofit program to use Apple Pay (which comes with actual checks of the status). This matches the intent every other point regarding payments, where soliticing money from within the app, even by way of link, is generally prohibited unless specifically allowed under one of the small list of exceptions. Remember when "reader" apps also had to remove links to purchase individual items and replaced it with, at best, "visit our website"? Same intent, same result. As for fishiness, compare these examples: * Signal Technology Foundation is a registered nonprofit foundation, I can check if the money is going to development of Signal (it is). They even do it right by providing the EIN so it is trivial to check. * Mozilla Foundation is a registered nonprofit foundation, I can check if the money is going to the development of the browser (it is not). * WireGuard developers decided it is important for them to keep the information where their business is located private (this is what I am referring to as fishy: I would challenge you to find where that particular "Edge Security" firm is actually operating, as a company, or what zx2c4.com is beside a name that Jason used to tag some files and host a domain, and both are used as "this project is from") and to keep the profits. See the difference? Two are genuine nonprofits entitled to donations, one is a business disguised as one (how much money that business makes is immaterial, it could be $1, it could be millions - I sincerely wish them the latter). Every developer has to make a living somehow - or at least recoup some costs, for FOSS projects - but this is not the way to go about it if you want to claim moral high ground over Apple.