This is a completely digital service, and they're just ignoring in-app purchases completely. How do they get away with that? Are there exceptions for subscriptions? The app comes across as a scam to me, but it's not exactly an obscure product.
Or maybe they use AB tests or something that hides this from the app review team?
[1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/noom/id634598719
Addendum for reference... I did screenshot the credit card form. This is in the app it self, not on a separate website. [2]
[1] https://www.facebook.com/business/news/branded-content-updat... [2] https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/12/21135183/ftc-influencer-a...
My understanding is it's potentially illegal [1] to pay someone to post and not tag it as being an advertisement. Instagram added new transparency guidelines [2] that require sponsored posts to be created inside their platform [3]
[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/03/15/lord--taylor...
[2] https://business.instagram.com/blog/tagging-and-insights/
Yes, this is absolutely the FCC guideline. But this has nothing to do with FB asking for revenue for off-site advertising (which they don't do).
So this part of your comment:
> "Instagram (Facebook) updated their rules in 2016[1] demanding that off platform deals for sponsored content go through them so they get a cut."
is completely wrong.
Kinda funny because these companies run around claiming ads are good for your user experience (via 1. funding the free experience, 2. platitudes like "connecting you with high quality offers")
It would be as if I paid money to change your app experience. Yes it is changing an app-experience but it's outside my app experience (curious how Apple thinks about in-app gifts, e.g. Farmville style)
Isn't that equivalent to an ad that drives more attention to your Facebook page?
So if I have two apps A and B, and app A only allows you to buy a license to unlock content/features in app B... no commission is due since what I buy in app A is consumed in app B, i.e. outside app A? :D
Apple can change the rules at any time for any reason with no notice. We may not provide details of the new rules.
Regulators know exactly what Apple is doing here, and have so far declined to take action. That's an explicit decision, not an oversight.
Judges question "Why 30% exactly?" indicates that people no longer think Apple is entitled to that.
How come these companies don't do something similar for subscriptions? ex: HBO Now (or whatever the fuck it's called these days) could have a subscribe button that takes you out of the app to their site - completely circumventing the in-app subscription purchase. Right?
See: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G...
How is this not monopoly abuse?
A full list can be found here (on their helpful, seemingly recent, marketing site): https://www.apple.com/ios/app-store/principles-practices/#:~....
And the legalese is here in section 3.1: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#in-...
For a few categories, this is very well-defined. For example, a ride in Uber/Lyft is clearly a good/service consumed outside of the app, a subscription to Netflix is a subscription, and a +1 life in a game is a consumable digital good. However, for other categories it is not as clear; for example, what category does a "Ride Pass" fall under (which lowers the cost of Uber and Lyft rides, but is a monthly, purely-digital subscription)?
Ads as a whole probably gets bucketed into goods and services outside the app (because it doesn't improve your app experience). Beyond that, from a strategic perspective, I suspect Apple isn't trying to get into the b2b game, their ability to control supply there is probably much lower, esp when the developer and the user have a direct connection (through a sales person / customer success rep). However, this raises a really interesting question towards the category of lighter-weight personal ads (i.e. "Promote this post"). I suspect that these are not well regulated and probably not equally enforced. I'd be interested in the comps here: Do Twitter / FB / LinkedIn all use the same purchase method when you promote a post? How about the dating apps when you promote your profile? Are those materially different?