Apple Backtracks On Controversial App Store Subscription Rules

Back in February Apple made waves in the publishing world by changing their App Store TOS. Basically, the new rules required publishers to remove any links within their apps to purchasing options outside the App Store environment.

This meant that Apple would get a sweet 30% cut on all (ebooks, for example) sold. Apple also said that the price must be the same as, or lower, than an out-of-app purchase. This kills any attempt content providers might make to raise in-app purchase prices to make up for the 30% Apple takes off the top.

What changed?

This article from Fast Company explains:

Specifically, it’s dropped the requirement that while apps can “read or play” approved content that’s sold outside of the app–and Apple will extract no income from these transactions–there was a stipulation “the same content is also offered in the app” using Apple’s Store, “at the same price or less than it is offered outside the app.” This stipulation is now gone.

While it is good news that Apple is stepping away from that horrible policy, it doesn’t mean that everything is all rosy. The article points this out:

How smart of Steve Jobs, then. Except there’s a catch: This is all okay as long as “there is no button or external link to the app to purchase the approved content.”

Hmm. So Apple’s saying: “It’s okay to be the exclusive storefront for you periodical content, and we won’t take a cut…but you can’t link to it in any way from inside the pertinent app.”

This is still a little slimy. All Apple is doing is making it harder for consumers to get the content they want on their Apple devices. In a way, Apple is biting the hand that feeds them (pardon the cliche`).

I’m not sure what this will mean for the future of App Store content providers. This could backfire on Apple. Or it could give them a revenue boost when content providers throw up their arms and sell their content within their apps, handing 30% over to Apple.

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