Vratislav Holub The App Store works on Apple platforms as a secure app and game store. Virtually everyone can publish their creation here, for which they only need a developer account (available on the basis of an annual subscription) and the fulfillment of the conditions of the given app. Apple will then take care of the distribution itself. It is this app store that is extremely important in the case of iOS/iPadOS platforms, where Apple users have no other way to install new tools. But the problem arises when the developer wants to charge for his application, or to introduce subscriptions and others.
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Adam Kos Today, it is no longer a secret that the Cupertino giant takes 30% of the amount as a fee for payments mediated through its App Store. This has been the case for several years now, and it could be said that this is a tribute to the security and simplicity that the apple app store offers. Be that as it may, this fact obviously does not sit well with the developers themselves, for one simple reason. Therefore, they earn less money. It is even worse because the terms of the App Store do not allow you to incorporate another payment system or to bypass Apple's. It was for this reason that the whole sport of Epic vs Apple started. Epic introduced an option in its Fortnite game where players could purchase in-game currency without using the system from the Cupertino giant, which is of course a violation of the terms.
Why it works for some apps
However, there are also applications that also require a subscription to function, but at the same time they also circumvent the terms of the App Store in a way. However, unlike Fortnite, there are still apps in the apple store. In this case, we mainly mean Netflix or Spotify. You can normally download this kind of Netflix from the App Store, but you cannot pay for the subscription in the application. The company easily circumvented the conditions and solved the whole problem in its own way so that it did not lose 30% of each payment. Otherwise, Apple would have received this money.
Netflix on iOS/iPadOS
This is exactly why the application itself is practically useless after downloading. Immediately after opening it, it invites you to as a subscriber they signed up. But you won't find any button linking to the official website anywhere, nor any more detailed information on how to actually purchase a subscription. And that's exactly why Netflix doesn't break any rules. It does not in any way encourage iOS/iPadOS users to circumvent the payment system. For this reason, it is necessary to first register an account on the website, choose the subscription itself and only then pay - directly to Netflix.
Why don't all developers bet the same way?
If this is how it works for Netflix, why don't practically all developers bet on the same tactics? Although it would seem logical, several factors must be taken into account. Netflix, as a giant, can afford something similar, while at the same time mobile devices are not its target group. On the contrary, they understandably spread to "bigger screens", where people understandably pay for the subscription in the traditional way on a computer, while the mobile application is available to them as a kind of add-on.
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Smaller developers, on the other hand, depend on the App Store. The latter mediates not only the distribution of their applications, but at the same time completely protects the payments and makes the whole job easier overall. On the other hand, it has its toll in the form of a share that must be paid to the giant.
I don't see it as a double standard. It is exactly as written. Netflix, HBO and others simply do not circumvent the terms and conditions. Epic, on the other hand, completely bypassed them, and not only bypassed them, but did it on purpose, because he knew exactly what was going to happen and then filed a lawsuit, like a big poor guy who got his candy taken away. I would also like to be a poor billionaire like that :)