Apple is temporarily making an exception to its App Store rules, eliminating the need for app makers to pay a commission for paid live streams of events. That reports The Wall Street Journal.
According to Apple, this is a temporary measure, which will in any case apply until the end of 2020. In this way, the company wants to meet entrepreneurs who have to do their work from home due to the corona virus.
Apple normally only charges a fee for digital products, such as a Netflix subscription or an ebook. That policy does not apply to the purchase of a product that you use in the real world. For example, an app from your gym that also sells a subscription doesn’t have to pay a commission.
Digital further
But many companies are forced to go digitally due to the corona crisis. Yoga teachers, for example, must sell their classes online and broadcast them via a live stream. If they did that with the help of an iPhone app, they are now still subject to Apple’s policy and they had to transfer money.
The exception makes this no longer necessary. The exception does not apply to games, because they already released their products completely digitally before the corona crisis.
Apple under fire for policy
Apple’s announcement comes shortly after Apple has come under fire for its App Store policies in multiple ways. The popular game Fortnite added its own non-Apple payment method to the game, after which it was removed from the digital store.
Brussels started an investigation into possible abuse of power in the App Store in June, after Spotify, among others, complained about the percentage that it must transfer to Apple.
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