- Apple has agreed to a set of child safety measures, including that apps in the Kids category will not include links to external websites to complete transactions.
- Apps that do use alternative payment systems must require parental approval for the purchase.
In what I consider a major win for most customers, Apple also seems to have convinced Europe of the need to require every alternatively distributed app to go through the company’s Notarization service. This provides a baseline review of an app aimed at ensuring basic functionality and protection from serious threats; that’s important, as it implies that Apple customers can be a little more certain, if not completely confident, that apps purchased outside of the App Store aren’t packed with secret malware or payment scams. While Notarization isn’t able to fully ensure against that, it helps.
Who actually benefits?
Put the changes together and I think large developers will find themselves paying Apple less for the privilege of selling apps on its platform, while for the vast majority of developers a 15% charge remains. Epic, in contrast, charges developers 12%, but arguably offers a much more limited infrastructure as it does not make devices, operating systems, or any of the supporting services that make a good customer experience on the platform.
The fact that Apple has worked with the EU to reach these new terms, which to a great extent do seem to deliver much of what was required under the DMA in relatively straightforward fashion, should sound like a win to critics of the App Store business. Apple has made it possible to use alternative payment systems and app stores and seems to have coalesced around the 15% fee as a base charge for the vast majority of developers with a much clearer and more straightforward approach. The company would likely argue that while doing this, it has striven to protect its business and its customers — and it can argue it should be able to generate revenue from an app’s distribution on its platform.
Read the full article here
