Subscriptions past Apple’s ticket booth: Netflix uses new freedom in iOS

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subscriptions past apples ticket booth netflix uses new freedom in.jpeg
subscriptions past apples ticket booth netflix uses new freedom in.jpeg

In the spring, Apple released the option for apps to be able to subscribe without Apple’s payment system. Netflix makes use of it.

The video streaming service Netflix makes use of the new option on Apple devices to link apps to external websites in order to take out a subscription there. Anyone who taps a button with the URL of the page in the Netflix app will first see a large warning that Apple is not responsible for anything else, and then land on the website. Apple had long denied app developers this opportunity, instead urging them to enable in-app purchases from which Apple earns a share.

However, Netflix had already withdrawn from this business practice at the end of 2018. Interested parties were then referred to a telephone number that explained to them how to set up access in a normal web browser. At that time, Apple still charged 30 percent of the total for each sale. This fee is now only charged for the first year and then reduced to 15 percent as long as the customer remains a subscriber. However, Netflix was not convinced by this concession. Only after the introduction of games in the app, at the end of 2021, was the in-app purchase option reintroduced for this area.

In view of the global pressure on big players like Apple to also allow alternative payment options, the group slightly relaxed the rules in March 2022. The exception applies to so-called “reader” apps, which Apple includes, for example, newspapers and magazines, but also streaming services for video and music. However, these services must first apply for the privilege from Apple. In individual cases, Apple then issues an entitlement that the developers can build into their app in order to activate the external link. Technically, the whole thing hardly differs from the normal call of a browser view in a modal view – the entitlement serves to pass the strict app review process without the app being rejected.

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(mki)