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Comment by qppo | Hacker News Reader

> By the same reasoning apps built for physical therapists, doctors should add in-app purchases too?

It would be really useful for me to pay my copays with Apple Pay for telemedicine, for what its worth. I'd love this as a feature.

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Would you still love it if the price has to be raised 30% to cover the IAP fee?

He would love it because he would not be allowed to be informed about the existence of that surcharge.

Well thankfully that's against Apples ToS and my insurance plan

Not if they raise it everywhere to cover it. This is exactly how Apple's policy can raise prices for end users.

Competitors without apps will not raise their prices, though.

Is it really against apple's ToS to increase in-app prices to make up for the 30% fee?

It was part of a set of changes that were meant to go into effect in July but that Apple rolled back. You're allowed to charge a different price but you can't tell the user that they can get it cheaper elsewhere or that you're paying 30% to Apple.

No, YT simply charges a higher subscription fee if you do it through the Apple in app purchase.

30% fees are only for digital goods/services. Real-world goods and services don't incur them.

Wouldn't a telemedicine appointment using the app for voice/video be indeed a "digital" good?

That's a good question. Personally I'd think no, as it's a real-world service (healthcare) that just happens to use a video call, but Apple's now-infamous hunger for services revenue growth may feel differently.

The Apple/Facebook dispute over the 30% for digital events (Apple demands 30%, Facebook thinks nobody - Facebook included - should be taking a cut) seems to make clear that Apple believes you owe them a cut no matter what as long as it's digital.

Facebook isn’t getting free payment processing here. They are trying to eat their fees temporarily to lock in an audience

Facebook always gets their cut, just not from the consumer. They sell or use the usage data to undercut popular services which seems more toxic than 30% up front. If they were doing this without retaining data on the transaction I would be more charitable to their cause.

I don’t think Apple Pay integration would incur the 30% fee. It would be closer to a CC transaction fee. ~3% (based on Stripe).

All IAP for digital is added a 30% fee in iOS (unless you are a big company that might make a backroom deal like Amazon).

But Apple Pay isn’t IAP.

You're right, but the discussion thread is about Apple requiring mandatory IAP (not just Apple Pay) before it will approve an app that sells fitness services, and then the discussion went into payment for telemedicine service - which presumably also require IAP and its 30% fee if Apple is consistent.

If it is for non digital goods, you can use Apple Pay (standard credit card rates) instead of IAP. Uber uses Apple Pay. Somehow TurboTax uses Apple Pay.

It is completely slimy that Apple forces apps that support personal trainers who take clients online 30% when if it was for a physical training session they wouldn’t have to because they were forced by Covid.

He said Apple Pay, not IAP. Apple Pay charges a standard credit card processing fee of 2-3%. The Uber app for example allows Apple Pay. Not IAP.

An app developer can implement copay feature on iOS using Apple pay without any issues right now.

But that is not the issue..

See I go to physical therapist for my shoulder pain and get home workout on my app. Apple is saying that you can't deliver home workout unless you add those home workouts are also available as an in-app purchase.

Is the copay due still subject to the 30% Apple tax in this instance?

Most probably not.

Shill: If it's in your market I highly suggest Kaiser! they have video telemedicine to actual doctors that's super useful for things like Flu, small maladies, follow ups. Plus I can email any of my doctors or anyone on my care team. Save a visit just send an email - even get a scripts for simple things.

This is literally the only reason I have a chromium browser installed on my personal machine. It's a great idea, but their implementation is quite bad.

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