Thursday, June 9, 2011

Apple Relaxes Purchasing Rules for App Store

It looks like Apple has relaxed some of the more controversial purchasing rules for iOS applications, in particular:
  • Applications can charge for purchases or subscriptions outside of the iOS app without giving Apple any percentage as long as the app doesn't link directly to that external purchase process.
  • Applications may offer higher prices on iOS to offset the lost revenue due to Apple's 30% margin.
This seems like it could be a big deal over the long haul. This might mean that applications like iFlowReader and Readability can continue to build iOS apps without feeling like they're squeezed out by the rules. It seems like a reasonable middle ground that will make it possible to build some businesses on iOS that might not have been viable before this change without creating a huge loophole that would encourage application developers to cut Apple out of their revenue stream.

Lots of coverage from Apple news sites, including:

No comments:

Post a Comment