Quote:
Originally Posted by murraypaul
That does suggest that it is now allowed, whereas the SlashGear article I had read said that both 11.13 and 11.14 were still active, so that if in-app payments were enabled, the price had to be the same. Anyone signed up for the Apple developer program who can confirm?
|
11.13 is still there, but it's been completely gutted from what it was. It talks about the 'no linking' policy.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Apple Review Guidelines
11.13 Apps that link to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, such as a “buy" button that goes to a web site to purchase a digital book, will be rejected
11.14 Apps can read or play approved content (specifically magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video) that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app, as long as there is no button or external link in the app to purchase the approved content. Apple will not receive any portion of the revenues for approved content that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app
|
And honestly, I don't expect any business of any kind to run a charity. Kobo doesn't, Apple doesn't, your Mom and Pop store doesn't. Shareholders and investors in general don't take kindly to businesses operating parts of their company at a loss for long periods of time (and more of us indirectly fall into this category than you'd think, unless your retirement comes from thin air or social security programs alone).
They will all do what it takes to keep their owners/shareholders happy, and a lot of times it comes in conflict with other businesses. Do I like the approach Apple has taken here? No. Can I see where they are coming from? Yeah. Do I believe that Kobo and the like are smart enough to find a way to profit despite Apple's stance? You bet. Although Sony worries me. They have great engineers, but their business mindset is poorly adapted for Western markets. Kobo has some engineering hurdles to jump before they get my trust as well (new bugs in existing functionality on a regular basis with their devices is not a good thing).