Comment by knallfrosch
9 months ago
Apple's guidelines are meant to be broken anyway. Bloomberg's app (Bloomberg Professional) is unusable without an account, which is 100% against iOS guidelines, but who cares?
Other big players, such as Amazon, simply negotiate the Apple tax – instead of paying the 30%.
Naturally, Apple doesn't tell you how often and for whom it breaks its rules.
> Apple's guidelines are meant to be broken anyway. Bloomberg's app (Bloomberg Professional) is unusable without an account, which is 100% against iOS guidelines
Any app whose purpose is to allow users to access subscription content works this way.
Netflix would be another common example of an app that is used to access subscription content and is not useful without an account.
If your app is free, but a subscription to your content is not, the most common practice is to not allow users to pay the subscription fee through your app at all. If users can't pay through your app, then Apple doesn't get a dime.
Why are apps that require accounts against the guidelines? Don't lots of apps require accounts such as Google Calendar or 1Password?
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean, I'm genuinely interested.
> Bloomberg's app (Bloomberg Professional) is unusable without an account, which is 100% against iOS guidelines, but who cares? Other big players, such as Amazon, simply negotiate the Apple tax – instead of paying the 30%.
Both of the companies mentioned don't make money from the use of their app -- at least not directly.
Sure, you can do all of your purchasing w/ Amazon through their app, but the website remains available if that is more to your liking. For free apps like Google Calendar, this is also the model.
Bloomberg's app is a front-end to the Bloomberg Professional Service (colloquially, "The Terminal") and to read more than a few articles or access any of the data sources, you need to sign up.
Tl;dr It's not cheap
Free trials can be converted on iOS, but -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- require going to a web browser instead of it all happening inside of IAP, although, that could come along at some point...
(Based on no inside information, that might be the case this fall, check back in a few hours to see if it actually comes to pass)
Apple made the rules for their convenience and benefit. They aren’t breaking them. They are adjusting them to once again be in line with their convenience and benefit.
Blah blah, that's just word play. I am always amazed by the defense that Apple apologists come up.
I wasn’t apologizing for Apple. I actually pretty dislike Apple but that doesn’t change the fact that you can’t break the rules when you make the rules.
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> Bloomberg's app (Bloomberg Professional) is unusable without an account, which is 100% against iOS guidelines, but who cares?
I usually disagree with Apple's restrictions, but isn't this (rather clearly) under the Enterprise application exception (App Review Guidelines 3.1.3(c), and indirectly 4.8)? This is, clearly, an enterprise product (you can't even register with this version unless you're a company). Do you actually knows the rules or are you just spewing garbage out of your mouth?
Actually, won't third-party mail applications also be in violation of the purported restriction because, by the nature of being a mail application, needs to log in before any use? You should actually point out which rule/s are being broken because despite honest attempts to find the alleged rule being broken... I simply don't see that rule/s.
I've had two little apps published in IOS store that both required accounts (paid account) that had to be created outside their universe.
They let me in, after a few hoops. This was in 2016-2019 (but now they are PWA)
Honestly, I wish they'd enforce the "require no account" rule more strictly. One of the most annoying things about using a mobile app is when they hit you with the "Sign in or GTFO" page on first run, as soon as you install the app.
At the very least, if an application absolutely requires an account to function, this should be prominently displayed, and they should explain in technical details what functionality cannot be possibly achieved without logging in. App Stores should reject apps that gate basic phone functionality (like GPS directions or camera access) behind an online account. These things obviously don't require an account to work, because they work on the default apps without accounts.
> At the very least, if an application absolutely requires an account to function, this should be prominently displayed,
This is the answer IMHO. I love that Google has been moving this direction with the Play Store, and I'd love to see them continue. Labels with "requires account" or something would be immensely helpful, and would be mandatory if I became ruler of the Play Store.
I wish Apple had never abandoned the rule that you need to be able to subscribe in the app at the same listed price as on the web.
I don’t, it’s anticompetitive. Sellers should be able to pass platform fees on to consumers, otherwise there’s no incentive for Apple to decrease those fees, there’s no feedback in the system.
Then if you don’t want to pay the Apple tax you can subscribe directly. This incentivizes Apple to keep the fees low.
Totally disagree. As a customer, I should not have to pay more or less for an application depending on what phone or computer I use to buy it. This would be like charging the customer more when they use an American Express card to buy your product, just because AMEX charges merchants more.
At some point, you have to just admit that as a business you have certain costs that you have to pay to operate. This mentality, that business costs must be borne by customers, is what's leading to all these ridiculous hidden fees and charges at other businesses.
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This would be fine if apple would either waive their tax, or allowed the seller to list for the (base price) + (apple tax).
As it was, sellers would earn 30% less for sales gouged by apple
Interesting that this post got flagged. Y'all are showing your biases. Nothing about this post violated any HN rules.
[flagged]
This has nothing to do with Apple's app store guidelines.