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Comment by tjpnz | Hacker News Reader

IIRC Netflix are able to get around this problem by processing subscription payments outside of their app. Wouldn't this solve the problem for some use cases? Or has Netflix got a "special" arrangement with Google and Apple?

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https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/1/21203630/apple-amazon-prim... They do have a special arrangement, and iirc there was a case of an email company being taken down due to them handling payments outside of the app, on a website.

You buy things in-app in Epic games. Google and Apple don't let you do this unless you use their payment processing.

Netflix and Office 365 you buy a subscription and then you simply use the app on a multitude of devices.

As an aside - does anyone know if it's explicitly banned to buy "coins" somewhere else - and then use those coins to buy things in the app? This is actually how Epic games works.

>Netflix and Office 365 you buy a subscription and then you simply use the app on a multitude of devices.

Fortnite appears to offer a subscription. What would've stopped them from doing that when the game was still available on the app stores?

An important distinction. Office 365 and Netflix get nearly all of their revenue from subscriptions. Just because Epic offers a subscription doesn't mean that's where it derives >95% of its revenue.

I see “sub coins” on sale in the Twitch app, my assumption is that you can offer them outside the app, but you cannot promote that alternative in the app and you must also sell them in-app (presumably for 30% more)

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