Note: This post contains affiliate links, when you purchase a product or service through one of these links we may earn a commission on that sale.
Apple has been in the limelight for quite some time now, but it was not for the right reason. The tech giant was taken to court by Epic Games regarding Apple’s payment systems and the 30% cut they took from developers.
However, now that a $100m settlement was made, Apple is all set to change their policy and make it possible for Apple app developers to email their customers about different payment systems and avoid Apple’s payment system altogether. According to the rules that are in place right now, app developers cannot tell their customers to avoid Apple’s cut even through email.
The terms that Apple has set are still subject to judicial approval, and there is still a chance that the jury might reject these terms and ask the tech giant to change their terms. However, that seems rather unlikely. Apple has made it clear that even though it allows companies to email their customers, the customers will still have the power to opt-out of such emails.
App developers have been trying to get Apple to reduce their 30% cut, and they have been successful to some extent. For example, Apple was willing to drop its cut to 15% if a business is earning under $1 million.
However, that was not good enough for the big giants like Epic. This point has been at the heart of the Apple-Epic legal battle, and it all began when Epic placed their own payment option in Fortnite at a lower price. Apple was swift to ban the game after this move was made.
The new plan that Apple has put forward still limits app developers from putting different payment options directly into their apps. The developers can also use in-app notifications to tell people about others ways that they can use to pay.
The deal, however, includes a commitment to maintaining certain developer-friendly policies, that is, for the coming few years. Some developers have been saying that this new policy will be highly beneficial for their business as it will allow them to contact their customers directly.
Developers will need to take full advantage of this change because they can then reduce the commissions paid to Apple as much as possible. This is good news for customers too, because developers will then reduce their fees as they will no longer owe Apple anything. We need to understand that at the end of the day, the customer was paying extra, and with this new policy, they will also get a little breathing space.
Now, it is a waiting game to see whether the other stakeholders will accept Apple’s proposition or want to make some more changes to it. However, as it stands, even this new policy will be a massive win for Apple developers from all over the world. Let’s, see how Apple will make up for this as it will cost them a good chunk of their business.
