Apple is making a range of changes to its for developers. The changes are coming as part of settlement of a class action lawsuit against Apple by some developers. This is not related to the Epic lawsuit against Apple.
Developers will not be able to communicate with users outside of the app via email to tell them about different subscription options as well as subscribing through the app.
These changes will not apply to in app communications, so developers will not be able to tell people through the app that there are alternative subscription methods, this was recently confirmed to 9 to 5 Mac by Apple.
Here are some of the changers that were agreed as part of the settlement.
- Apple and the developers agreed to maintain the App Store Small Business program in its current structure for at least the next three years.
- App Store Search has always been about making it easy for users to find the apps they’re looking for. At the request of developers, Apple has agreed that its Search results will continue to be based on objective characteristics like downloads, star ratings, text relevance, and user behavior signals. The agreement will keep the current App Store Search system in place for at least the next three years.
- Apple will also expand the number of price points available to developers for subscriptions, in-app purchases, and paid apps from fewer than 100 to more than 500. Developers will continue to set their own prices.
- Apple will maintain the option for developers to appeal the rejection of an app based on perceived unfair treatment, a process that continues to prove successful. Apple has agreed to add content to the App Review website to help developers understand how the appeals process works.
- Over the last several years, Apple has provided a great deal of new information about the App Store on apple.com. Apple agreed to create an annual transparency report based on that data, which will share meaningful statistics about the app review process, including the number of apps rejected for different reasons, the number of customer and developer accounts deactivated, objective data regarding search queries and results, and the number of apps removed from the App Store.
It will be interesting to see if these changes will have any bearing on the lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple.
Source 9 to 5 Mac
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