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Comment by eightysixfour | Hacker News Reader

But they also don’t allow you to sign-up for a free tier in the app, which as far as I know, is also against the rules. My understanding is that if someone downloads the app from the store and can’t do anything but see a login page, it is a violation.

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Unless they've recently changed the rules, it's not a violation.

I've had a couple of apps in the iOS and macOS stores that couldn't be accessed unless you paid for a service outside the app.

In fact, when submitting an app for review you can provide a user and password so that Apple can log in and test the private app.

That's always been a rule but apps like Netflix count as "Reader" apps that are allowed to do that.

>3.1.3(a) “Reader” Apps: Apps may allow a user to access previously purchased content or content subscriptions (specifically: magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video, access to professional databases, VoIP, cloud storage, and approved services such as classroom management apps), provided that you agree not to directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about other purchasing methods are not designed to discourage use of in-app purchase.

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/

email client fits more in "Reader" category i believe.

We also have an app in the App Store that can only be used if you have already bought our very expensive service.

Sure, you can give them an account but it is in fact against the Apple TOS and users shouldn't be able to see and download apps on the store they can't use. They don't catch all the caws but they're still in breach. Apple has other ways of distributing apps if they're internal apps or if the business manages the users somewhere else and the app store shouldn't be used then.

I can 100% assure you these apps were not in breach and it was no fluke. Apple questioned us multiple times about where and how would users pay for the service.

I think this was allowed because as someone else mentioned there are some exceptions to this rule. This was an education app which gave access to some digital books.

> Sure, you can give them an account but it is in fact against the Apple TOS

It isn't. Go read the guidelines again.

They're doing the exact same thing the Netflix app does.

I just checked the Netflix app's App Store page and apparently you can now subscribe via in-app purchase. I suspect this is a recent development forced by a change in Apple's TOS.

Netflix pretty famously got rid of it https://www.mobileappdaily.com/netflix-stops-paying-the-appl...

Netflix no longer offers in-app purchases. You are wrong.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/netflix/id363590051

It's right there in black and white under the "In-App Purchases" section.

Just sign out on your netflix app to see for yourself -- the splash screen literally says "You can't sign up for netflix in the app. We know it's a hassle."

> “Trying to join Netflix?” it reads. “You can’t sign up for Netflix in the app. We know it’s a hassle. After you’re a member, you can start watching in the app.” Bizarrely, it gives no further instructions on how or where to go if you want to sign up for Netflix: no URL, no QR code, not even a hint of how to join. If you aren’t already a member, it’s a complete dead end.

That’s not a bug. It’s a function of Apple policy. With some exceptions, the company doesn’t let users pay app makers directly for their apps or digital services. They can only pay Apple, which takes a 30% cut of all revenue and then passes 70% to the developer. (For subscription services, which account for the majority of App Store revenues, that 30% cut drops to 15% after the first year.) To tighten its grip, Apple prohibits the affected apps from even telling users how they can pay their creators directly.

https://onezero.medium.com/apples-secret-monopoly-5718272c16...

The list you're seeing is likely old but still active subscriptions, before Netflix was forced to go web-only.

It's not possible to initiate one.

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