Providers of online events in iPhone apps can do this themselves for a longer period of time and therefore do not have to pay any commission to Apple for the time being. Because of the “revival of Covid” and the resulting effects on events and courses, the deadline was postponed to June 30, 2022, as the company announced to developers.
Afterwards, however, such apps have to process all sales via Apple’s in-app payment interface. This requirement applies to virtually all iOS apps that sell digital content, so Apple automatically retains up to 30 percent commission.
Deadline pushed back multiple times
“Real-time offers from person to person” should remain excluded from the specification, notes Apple. Apps such as individual fitness courses, online doctor consultations or individual tutoring for students can therefore continue to be billed directly, for example by entering credit card details.
Originally, course apps were supposed to settle their offers via Apple’s payment interface by the end of 2020 at the latest. With the first lockdowns in early 2020, the range of online courses exploded, so Apple obviously wanted to make money from them – but shied away from implementation: the deadline has now been extended for the third time. There were also considerable complaints from affected providers, some of whom apparently complained to the regulatory authorities.
Apple’s requirements for in-app purchases have long been controversial and are now increasingly being eyed by competition authorities, including in Europe. An original communication ban that prohibited developers from informing their customers about alternative payment options outside of the apps has since been removed from its rules. Apple is clinging to the requirements for in-app purchases and a right to a commission when selling digital content.
More time for account deletion function
Apple has also postponed the implementation of another requirement until summer 2022: Apps that enable the creation of an account only have to integrate a deletion function for the account together with the user data from this date. Apple announced that it had decided to extend the deadline due to the “complexity” of the implementation.
(lbe)