Apple allows Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to sell ads, which are digital goods, in their iOS apps via direct transactions, avoiding IAP and the 30% cut
the biggest beneficent of the iPhone, its tools, and its infrastructure—pay nothing, when small developers have to pay tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars? https://ia.net/...
iA Oliver Reichenstein
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Discussion
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@mcelhearn
Kirk McElhearn
on x
@reichenstein My point is that these platforms work differently from other apps. There are no IAPs in Facebook or Instagram, they are more akin to web wrappers than actual apps. Apple doesn't get a cut from ads in apps that display them, right?
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@reichenstein
Oliver Reichenstein
on x
This next blog post I am working on that looks into “Why Facebook is paying no Apple tax” is something else. Writing it, in every sentence l, I lose focus, thinking “How can that be? How did I never realize this? And why has no one talked about this? What am I missing?”
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@gruber
John Gruber
on x
@fl0atplane @atpfm It is “content” but the App Store Guidelines are pretty clear about requiring using Apple's system only for content you, the user, consume on the device.
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@timcarrphoto
@timcarrphoto
on x
@gruber @atpfm If I wrote the exact same app it would get rejected. That is the issue.
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@letterror
Erik
on x
Staggering figures. “0.5 trillion are measurably made via iPhone Apps that do not pay 30% or any percentage of all.” https://twitter.com/...
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@ia
@ia
on x
Zuckerberg: Apple is a monopolist that stifles competition, and the App Store “allows Apple to charge monopoly rents.” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... Irony just died of a quadruple heart attack. Instagram, Whatsapp, Facebook, Messenger of monopolist Facebook don't pay rent to …
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@alexhern
Alex Hern
on x
been thinking this for a while - the standoff if Apple decides to enforce IAP over Facebook advertising will be truly fantastic https://ia.net/...
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@reichenstein
Oliver Reichenstein
on x
I think I got to the bottom of this now, and, at least, the German Apple will have heard us. We'll have a third appearance in a German newspaper this week. Then I might go back to philosophizing about the harmless intricacies of liquid grids.
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@gruber
John Gruber
on x
From @atpfm, I learned that Instagram lets you buy “Promotions” (ads) in-app, using Facebook's own credit card processing. “How's this allowed?” I thought. But rereading the App Store Guidelines, I don't think it violates anything? Not unlocking features, not paying for content. …
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@reichenstein
Oliver Reichenstein
on x
@mcelhearn Dude, there are IAP! In the Facebook app, Instagram, and here on Twitter, too. https://twitter.com/...
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@mcelhearn
Kirk McElhearn
on x
@reichenstein To be fair, think of it this way: if everyone used Facebook (or Instagram, or Twitter) in a browser then the question wouldn't arise. The real distinction between “platform” apps is the fact that they are essentially web browsers, only making money from display ads.
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@ia
@ia
on x
Why should Facebook—the biggest beneficent of the iPhone, its tools, and its infrastructure—pay nothing, when small developers have to pay tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars? https://ia.net/...