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>Is it because they could be bought through the Kindle app on Android and then accessed on an iPhone? No, you got that backwards. According the email screensh
by jasode 5y ago
>Is it because they could be bought through the Kindle app on Android and then accessed on an iPhone?
No, you got that backwards. According the email screenshots, the above scenario you wrote was actually "ok" with Apple and they allowed an exception for not using Apple payments: mostly buy a bunch of books on a non-Apple device and then later read them on the iPhone.
But Phil and Steve are complaining because Amazon commercials are showing how to do the opposite: buy books first on the iPhone to read elsewhere. Apple wants a cut of that because that bypasses the Apple Payments exception they had in mind.
- ethbr0 5y ago+ Minor point Per the emails, that exception was originally granted because Amazon wanted users to be able to purchase books (into their Kindle account) on Kindles, but still be able to read them in Kindle-on-iOS. At the time, this apparently seemed reasonable to Apple. In the time between that and the email, Apple sold a ton of iPhones and iPads. Amazon did not sell an equal ton of Kindles. Consequently, Apple looked at the deal as "You're getting value, based on a device count parity that no longer exists. So when you spit in our eye in an advertisement, we're going to alter the terms of our deal."