June 30 Deadline for Apple Subscriptions

February 15, 2011 at 7:30 am PT

Apple’s new subscription plan has a compliance deadline. June 30, according to a memo sent to publishers earlier this year. “For existing apps already in the App Store, we are providing a grace period to bring your app into compliance with this guideline,” it reads. “To ensure your app remains on the App Store, please submit an update that uses the In App Purchase API for purchasing content, by June 30, 2011.”

That leaves legacy apps like Hulu Plus, Netflix, Amazon, Rhapsody and others a little over four months to implement an in-app purchasing mechanism–assuming they can come to terms with the thought of handing Apple a 30 percent cut on subscriptions.

Reached for comment, Hulu declined to give one. Netflix and the others haven’t yet responded to our requests.

Tagged with: Amazon, App Store, Apple, apps, comment, compliance, content, deadline, digital, guideline, Hulu, Hulu Plus, Internet, John Paczkowski, memo, Netflix, plan, Publishers, purchasing, Rhapsody, subscriptions

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http://twitter.com/bobthedino2000 Bob Thedino

I’m thinking that Amazon can comply with this by just removing the button in the Kindle app that takes you to the Amazon Kindle Store web site in Safari. I’m sure people already know to go to the Amazon web site to buy their Kindle books…
Anonymous

that actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

http://www.privacy-online.au.tc
Anonymous

I’m not seeing the impact on Netflix. The rules specifically state that these rates only affect users who were acquired through the application. I imagine that the huge majority of users who download the Netflix iPhone/iPad application are already Netflix users and will not transact their subscriptions in the app.
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com/ Andrys

That wording was sent to existing *subscription-app” publishers in early Feb. The wording hasn’t been sent to existing non-subscription-app companies selling publisher e-books.

RE Sony’s rejection – I haven’t seen what their plan for payments was. Was it really the same payment method as Amazon’s, Barnes & Noble et al?

Book sale revenue for stores is 30%. If Apple took 30% of a transaction they’d take 100% of the bookseller’s sale. Makes no sense. That they might ask 5% would be a bit more understandable. ANDROID tablet vendors will ask nothing. Apple’s device-sales would be badly affected if the 30% applied to e-book seller apps.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Roger-Schwed/100000734322738 Roger Schwed

Noticed that NY Times for Kindle is now downloadable to the Kindle for Android phone app, but NOT the Kindle for iPhone app (notwithstanding the recent version upgrade). Maybe related to the new Apple rules? Maybe Amazon is giving Apple a taste of how it might be able to drive traffic to other phone OS’s? Or maybe entirely innocuous…..
Anonymous

The way I read it, Netflix must allow people to subscribe through the Netflix app, and at the same prices. That may not be a trivial change to the app, and it also means they would lose 30% to Apple for every person who subscribes through the app.
Anonymous

If Apple persists in this arm twisting, my iPhone and iPad will be replaced by a Xoom and android. Its simple extortion on a corporate level. Can you imagine if Bill Gates had said at the beginning, “anything purchased through a Windows machine using Windows software, we get a percentage of it?” Of course, I’m sure he would have loved to have done that, but the public screaming would have been heard around the world. Wonder why more consumers are not up in arms about this?
http://blog.macb.net macbeach

“Postscript: To Apple Store owners. You Vill be delighted with this! Failure to comply vill result in the closing of your store and the jailing of your family!”

My my how the mighty are falling in our estimation.
http://blog.macb.net macbeach

Maybe because there are not so many people who are utterly dependent on their Apple toys. They can all be replaced now by something else, and in some cases by something better. Things like this are going to separate the Apple “True Believers” from the more casual consumers.

Some of the former are going to be here in a second I predict.
http://stupendoussteve.pip.verisignlabs.com/ Steve

This is how I read it to, which also means as long as Netflix and Hulu do not have links to their website for “new users,” they should also not have problems.

It appears you cannot use some other system *in the app* (like the Amazon kindle link) for purchasing content, but if you remove all ability to purchase content from the app and rely on users figuring it out, you should be fine.
Anonymous

Actually, a better analogy would be Amazon allowing Apple to put a link at the top of all of their webpages selling MP3 albums that would allow you to buy the same album from iTunes instead. And of course I am sure that the Kindle will soon allow you to load and read your books purchased from iBooks using their whisper sync technology.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tony-Mills/1099638671 Tony Mills

Maybe a little clarity:

The book “Cocoa and Objective-C: Up and running” is available in three places (same book).

Publishers price: 34.99 (Softcover, Safari Online)
Kindle price: 15:39 (Kindle Store/Online)
App Store Price: 6.99 (Apple App Store)

The publisher (O’Reilly) put the book in the App store. I don’t think they are selling it at a loss, and Apple is charging them 30%.

June 30 Deadline for Apple Subscriptions

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