Apps using external purchases as of Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruling

A federal judge found Apple in contempt for violating a 2021 court order stemming from Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit. The order required Apple to allow developers to link to outside payment options, but Apple imposed restrictions that the court deemed anticompetitive. As a result, Apple must change its practices and could face criminal contempt proceedings. See full ruling here.

Below is the most updated App Review Guidelines around this ruling.

Patreon

External purchase (prominent CTA) and IAP (footer text) purchase options
In-app Webview surfaces external payment options

Kindle

Kindle’s Get book CTA
Kindle presents book via user’s default broswer

Spotify

According to a RevenueCat webinar Spotify doesn’t use any IAPs in-app as they qualify as a reader app. So throughout this there are only CTAs linking to their external web checkout flow. If you don’t qualify as a reader app you will need to include IAPs in your app alongside external links.

Spotify landing page
Spotify presents checkout via user’s default browser
Spotify app showcasing external link purchasing

Resources

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