Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Public money, private plans: MPs demand Post Office transparency

      13 June 2025

      Coal to cash: South Africa gets major boost for energy shift

      13 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      10 red flags for Apple investors

      13 June 2025
    • World

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025

      Qualcomm shows off new chip for AI smart glasses

      11 June 2025

      Trump tariffs to dim 2025 smartphone shipments

      4 June 2025

      Shrimp Jesus and the AI ad invasion

      4 June 2025

      Apple slams EU rules as ‘flawed and costly’ in major legal pushback

      2 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025

      South Africa unveils big state digital reform programme

      12 May 2025

      Is this the end of Google Search as we know it?

      12 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025

      TCS | Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus

      3 June 2025

      TCS | Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround

      28 May 2025
    • Opinion

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025

      Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

      29 May 2025

      Solar panic? The truth about SSEG, fines and municipal rules

      14 April 2025

      Data protection must be crypto industry’s top priority

      9 April 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » World » Apple makes further App Store concessions amid growing criticism

    Apple makes further App Store concessions amid growing criticism

    By Agency Staff2 September 2021
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Apple will loosen rules on its App Store that have banned companies like Netflix from providing customers a link to create a paid account to bypass Apple’s in-app purchase commissions.

    It is the second concession to regulators and companies in less than a week as the iPhone maker faces legal, regulatory and legislative challenges to the App Store, which forms the core of its US$53.8-billion services segment.

    But Apple will still ban developers from taking other forms of payment inside apps on the iPhone, the key practice that Fortnite creator Epic Games, Spotify Technology and Match Group have said they want to end.

    They’re running a literally day-by-day recalculation of divide-and-conquer in hopes of getting away with most of their tying practices

    “A limited anti-steering fix does not solve all our issues,” Spotify, which is pursuing an antitrust complaint against Apple with European Union competition authorities, said in a statement.

    Epic CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted, referring to Apple’s operating system: “Apple should open up iOS on the basis of hardware, stores, payments and services, each competing individually on their merits. Instead, they’re running a literally day-by-day recalculation of divide-and-conquer in hopes of getting away with most of their tying practices.”

    Commissions

    Apple collects commissions between 15% and 30% from in-app purchases and erects barriers to keep developers from steering users towards payment alternatives. One such rule had barred “reader apps” — where users consume content that they purchased elsewhere — from providing a link to sign up for a paid account.

    Apple said on Wednesday it will drop that rule starting early next year as part of the conclusion of an investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC).

    Apple said it agreed with the JFTC to let developers of those apps share a single link to their websites to help users set up and manage their accounts. Although the change is part of an agreement with the JFTC, Apple said it would be applied globally.

    Tim Sweeney. Image: Official GDC

    The JFTC said at a media briefing it had closed a five-year investigation into Apple and the company’s App Store guideline revision eliminated suspicion of antimonopoly practices. Apple will be able to reject apps it doesn’t judge to be “reader” apps.

    The scope of the investigation did not cover games, it added.

    Previously, Apple had allowed a link for account creation but only if creating the account did not involve entering payment information. That meant companies like Netflix, which has no free tier of service and requires payment at sign-up, could not provide a link.

    The changes will not apply to gaming companies, which are the largest category of moneymakers for Apple on its App Store

    But the changes will not apply to gaming companies, which are the largest category of moneymakers for Apple on its App Store.

    Apple said in a statement that reader apps can safely offer other ways to pay because the shows or songs they offer access to are not “in-app digital goods and services”. Apple has the ultimate say over whether an app qualifies as a “reader app” or a game.

    Epic unhappiness

    Sweeney of Epic Games, which is pursuing an antitrust claim against Apple in US courts, criticised Apple’s logic, saying on Twitter that “it’s hard to discern the rationale that this is safe while Fortnite accepting direct payments remains unsafe”.

    Last week, Apple reached a deal with a group of developers in the US in a class-action lawsuit as it awaits a ruling by the same US judge in a separate App Store dispute brought by Epic Games. In that agreement, Apple ended a ban on developers’ telling users in email messages outside an app about payment alternatives.  — Reported by Kanishka Singh and Stephen Nellis, with additional reporting by Tim Kelly, (c) 2021 Reuters



    Apple Epic Games Tim Sweeney top
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleAutomation: First, choose what not to do
    Next Article Watch | Liquid Intelligent Technologies executives on the ‘science of cybersecurity’

    Related Posts

    10 red flags for Apple investors

    13 June 2025

    Qualcomm shows off new chip for AI smart glasses

    11 June 2025

    Apple throws shade, not code, as it falls behind in AI

    10 June 2025
    Company News

    Huawei Watch Fit 4 Series: smarter sensors, sharper design, stronger performance

    13 June 2025

    Change Logic and BankservAfrica set new benchmark with PayShap roll-out

    13 June 2025

    SAPHILA 2025 – transcending with purpose, connection and AI-powered vision

    13 June 2025
    Opinion

    Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

    2 June 2025

    South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

    2 June 2025

    Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

    29 May 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.