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Apple’s Reluctant Adherence to Regulations Will Erode Trust with Politicians and Developers

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Apple does not enjoy this, which should surprise exactly no one. Somehow, despite that, society remains intact and people are mostly ok with using those platforms with reasonable success. What isn’t so understandable is just how petulant the company is being about prying open fingers on its tightly closed fist when it comes to compliance here. At best, it seems short-sighted: Yes, doing so will mean Apple’s revenue picture doesn’t materially change in the near-term. And developers are increasingly irate at Apple’s antics.

New App Store Guidelines: Excluding Video and News Partners from External Payment Options, Apple Takes Charging into Its Own Hands

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Apple this week updated its App Store rules to comply with a court order after the Supreme Court declined to hear the Epic Games-initiated antitrust case against Apple over commissions. This seems to skirt the court’s decision requiring Apple to remove the “anti-steering” clause from its agreement with App Store developers. But in its place is a complicated process that requires app developers to apply for permission to include their desired link or button, via something dubbed the StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement. Apple has used entitlements to set up exceptions to its App Store rules — for example, last year when it allowed “reader” apps (apps that provide access to digital content, like audio, music, video, book, and more) to point to an external website where customers could manage their accounts with the app developers. In the case of the new U.S.-based Link Entitlement, Apple is again demanding to first vet which applications can include external links and control how they’ve been implemented.