Apple changes key App Store rules in response to class action lawsuit from developers

Apple has agreed to change several rules that govern its App Store as part of an agreement with the developers who submitted a class action demand against the company. The most significant change is that Apple is “clarifying” that developers are allowed to email users “about payment methods outside their iOS application.” The company has also agreed to publish transparency reports that detail the rejection rates of the application store and the application review process.

Many of the changes will affect some of Apple’s most controversial developer rules that have been debated heatedly, since the company faces greater antitrust scrutiny. For example, Apple’s policies that prohibit developers to inform users about ways to pay for their content outside the Apple store was a key problem in the Epic vs. Apple Trial. Now Apple says that developers are, in fact, allowed such “communications” by email or other methods, as long as they do not do it directly in their application.

“To give you even more flexibility to developers to reach their clients, Apple also clarifies that developers can use communications, such as email, to share information about payment methods outside their iOS application,” writes Apple in his statement.

The company is also promising more transparency in its application review process, which developers have said that they are confusing and difficult to navigate. Apple says it will launch an “annual transparency report” that “shared significant statistics on the application review process, including the number of applications rejected for different reasons, the number of customer accounts and developers deactivated, objective data related to the Search queries and results, and the number of applications deleted from the App Store “.

There are other changes that are destined to give developers more flexibility when establishing their prices. Apple says that it will increase the number of price points available for “less than 100 to more than 500” application manufacturers. These changes are expected at the end of next year, according to a statement by lawyers representing developers. In addition, Apple agreed as part of the settlement to keep the changes that originally said they were in response to COVID-19 that reduced the 15 percent commissions for developers who perform less than $ 1 million per year. That change will now be valid for “at least the next three years”.

Changes are in response to a class action demand that dates back to 2019. Developers who perform less than $ 1 million can also receive payments as part of the settlement, although the website with details on arrangements is not yet Has published.