Apple Quietly Revises Its In-App Purchasing Requirements

Previously:

• If you sold content outside the app, you also had to implement in-app purchasing
• Your in-app price had to match your external pricing, while giving Apple a 30% cut.

• If you show a link or button that takes people to an external purchasing site, you have to implement in-app purchasing
• You can choose your in-app pricing freely.

• The old regulations were unclear as to whether companies like Netflix, that let you subscribe externally, would have to implement in-app purchasing (which is a lot of work). The new rules clarify that they don’t have to, as long as there is no “click here to purchase stuff” button.
• Why the change of heart? There were probably several reasons:
  • The in-app purchasing requirements might have been a product of a strategy tax [1], where one part of a company make another part do counter-productive things. In Apple’s case, the old rules would have given iTunes movies, iTunes music and iBooks a competitive edge against, say, Amazon. On the other hand, they threaten the competitiveness of the the iOS app store against Google. Now the latter party prevailed.
  • Some companies such as the Financial Times were prepared to drop their iPad app in favor of a webapp [2].
  • Competition from Android is increasing, albeit slowly.