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Apple will allow app developers to use their own payment systems.
For a long time now, one of the iron-clad rules of listing an app on Apple’s App Store is that, if you want your app to have any kind of payment system, you had to go through Apple. If an app developer tried to skirt the rules and use a payment method other than Apple’s, their app would be delisted from the store. This rule has been the crux of a major antitrust lawsuit against Apple from app developers that are tired of paying Apple’s taxes on their apps. As of today, Apple has officially relented.
Apple has agreed to a settlement in a class action lawsuit over in-app payment systems. While the settlement has not actually been approved by the courts yet, it looks like it’ll go through, and once it does, Apple will be required to draw up new “anti-steering” policies. Part of these policies will be easing off app developers that share alternate payment methods in their apps through means like emails and links. While Apple will still collect a portion of payments made through their systems, any payments made outside of those systems will be solely for the developers. Apple will also be lowering their cut of payments from 30% to 15% for the next three years in support of small business developers.
Apple says it will let app developers collect payments outside its App Store, a major concession bowing to antitrust concerns https://t.co/j5EUrBq47B
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 27, 2021
“The terms of the agreement will help make the App Store an even better business opportunity for developers, while maintaining the safe and trusted marketplace users love,” Apple said in a statement.
“This hard-won settlement will bring meaningful improvements to US iOS developers who distribute their digital wares through the App Store, especially for those small developers who bring so much creativity and energy to their work,” the plaintiffs’ legal representative Steve Berman said.
