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They don't force Netflix to pay them 30% either. The reality is they take 30% where they can overpower the other party. Where they are overpowered, they acquies
by smnrchrds 5y ago
They don't force Netflix to pay them 30% either. The reality is they take 30% where they can overpower the other party. Where they are overpowered, they acquiesce.
- lotsofpulp 5y agoThey also drew a line between in app and non in app transactions.
- smnrchrds 5y agoThey did not just draw a line; they gerrymandered a line so Netflix would not leave App Store and Apple would not lose its income from smaller players while pretending it is a fair line in the sand. Even Marco Arment has commented on the ridiculousness of the complexity of the line. I highly recommend reading the link below. https://marco.org/2020/09/11/app-review-changes https://marco.org/2020/09/11/app-review-changes
- lotsofpulp 5y agoOh, I did not know all of that. I would agree those policies are ridiculous.
- AlexandrB 5y agoThat post is from Sept. 2020, but Netflix (and Audible, Comixology + others) have been dodging the 30% cut for years simply by not allowing you to pay within the app. I'm not sure Apple had Netflix in mind with this change.
- smnrchrds 5y agoSee my other comment here about Netflix: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27453395 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27453395
- acchow 5y agoI believe the majority of a Netflix subscriber's consumption is still on their TV, not on their iPhone/iPad. But you also cannot pay for Netflix in the iPhone app. You have to do it on their website.
- wizzwizz4 5y agoYou can't pay Fanhouse on iOS, either.
- Hnrobert42 5y agoI pay Netflix through my iPhone. I can manage the subscription along with my other iPhone app subscriptions.
- smoldesu 5y ago> But you also cannot pay for Netflix in the iPhone app. You have to do it on their website The App Store explicitly rejects smaller apps that attempt to do this. See Hey, the email client that tried the exact same thing and got the cold-shoulder.
- typest 5y agoThis is because Netflix, knowing Apple would take 30%, does not allow you to sign up via an iPhone app. Apple takes 30% if you sign up via iPhone, not if you sign up via web and then use the iPhone app.
- smnrchrds 5y agoNetflix was able to do this because Apple carved out an exception for them by gerrymandering the rules so Netflix could do this. They did that because Netflix was powerful enough. Hey tried to do a similar thing, but Apple was having none of it. They were going to force them to pay them 30%, because they were not powerful enough. When the social media storm made them more powerful, Apple acquiesced.
- ibero 5y agowait, what was Netflix able to do?
- smnrchrds 5y agoNetflix does not allow you to sign up in their iOS app. You have to sing up and set up payment through their website, but you can use your username and password to use your subscription in iOS. They do not pay the Apple Tax. Hey tried to use the exact same, but Apple said they MUST allow sign ups in the app, using in-app purchase API, and paying 30% to Apple. Apple was not going to allow Hey to do what Netflix/Spotify/etc have done for ages, until public sentiments and social media storm forced them to acquiesce.
- sida 5y agoaudible - the audio book app also does not allow purchases in-app. Fanhouse can just let purchases happen on web
- smnrchrds 5y agoYou mean Audible by Amazon.com, Inc.?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]