Apple’s New Payments Policy Impacts Developers and Users

Apple has yielded to legal and economic pressures from Epic Games and now allows app developers to use alternative payment systems. However, Apple has implemented a complex set of rules that make it difficult to utilize these alternate channels.

The newly established guidelines, meticulously crafted by Apple, present significant challenges. Developers now have to seek Apple’s approval to include a link to an external payment system within their apps. If approved, the link can only be displayed once in the form of plain text.

According to Austin Carr from Bloomberg, “They have to appear as text URLs, so they cannot be colorful buttons with text like ‘Use PayPal,’ and the text itself must conform to one of seven patterns (e.g., ‘To avail the promotion, visit www.example.com’).”

Clicking on the link triggers a warning about external websites, and the webpage must open in the device’s browser, potentially requiring users to log in again.

Developers are still required to offer in-app purchases through Apple, maintaining higher fees, and they cannot “discourage” users from using Apple’s system.

Apple claims that these new restrictions and pricing structures align with the court’s decision and solutions implemented in response to similar regulations abroad.

However, app developers find themselves grappling with this convoluted situation, questioning the fairness of the restrictions imposed by Apple.

Critics, including Epic Games and Spotify, have denounced Apple’s actions. Epic Games CEO, Tim Sweeney, labeled it as a “cunning ‘compliance’ plan,” while Spotify deemed it “outrageous.”

Currently, app developers must navigate through this ambiguous situation and ponder the fairness of Apple’s imposed limitations.