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Comment by scubbo | Hacker News Reader

I'm pretty surprised they haven't just Maliciously Complied by offering an in-app signup buried somewhere obscure in the app, with lots of big flashing warning signs saying "don't click this, it's only for compliance reasons" - and a nice discoverable easily-followable link to the browser-based sign-up.

They could be continuing to make the (justified and correct!) stink about Apple's terrible practices, while also having their app on the store (or forcing Apple to further highlight how arbitrarily-applied their standards are). Win-win.

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What makes you think that kind of Malicious Compliance update gets accepted at all?

The problem with a hypocritical stance is that its existence defies logic to begin with.

Honestly - I don't think it would be accepted. But, in either outcome, they're better off: * If it gets accepted - great, they're unblocked, and can keep delivering for customers * If it doesn't get accepted, they have even more ammunition to say "look, even when we conform to Apple's rules, they _still_ block us".

This violates the App Store Review Guidelines 3.1.3(b) [1]:

> You must not directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about other purchasing methods must not discourage use of in-app purchase.

[1]: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#mul...

This would likely be rejected by the Apple review team.

Right, and - as I said in another comment - being rejected when they are actually conforming to the rules (however asinine those rules may be) will be further ammunition to point out how inconsisently-applied those rules are.

Could they just put in a random explanatory video and say the functionality for non-users is they're able to watch the video? It seems like they just need to have any kind of non-user thing to do...

That said, I think Apple forbids you trying to redirect people out of the app by explaining that they take a cut if you sign up in it.

An alternative I’ve seen is let users register for a free account don’t indicate there’s an upgrade but drip email a few days down the road for the user to upgrade via a web workflow

Apple doesn't allow a link in the app to direct users to a website to collect payment. You can't even merely say that there's a website where you can pay outside the app. Notice how many apps in the article simply don't provide any explanation about how users are supposed to sign up?

Why not jack up prices and then offer a 30% "discount" via web signups?

part of the app store rules is you can't do that. you have to offer it for the same price. somehow spotify seem to have gotten away with not doing this.

That’s not true. In fact Spotify did charge more for in app subscriptions v

Maybe they changed this. I thought that was a rule to begin with

This was back in 2015.

https://www.theverge.com/2015/7/8/8913105/spotify-apple-app-...

Apple has thought of this and every other workaround that I've seen proposed. It's against the "rules", and they will ban you from their store.

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