In the EU, Apple is being forced to allow developers to send App Store customers to third-party payment platforms to pay for paid apps and in-app purchases. This allows the developer to bypass Apple’s In-app purchases payment platform which charges them a commission of 15%-30% of the value of the transaction. Considering that Apple’s Services unit, which includes App Store revenue, nearly hit $100 billion during fiscal 2024, the tech giant is not letting this happen without putting up a fight.
Apple adds scary warning to an app in the Hungarian App Store. Image credit-X
It seems that Apple’s use of this warning is being done to protect its financial well-being. By using this type of scare tactic, Apple could be in violation of the DMA, which does not allow the use of so-called scare screens. Apple’s goal is to frighten App Store customers away from using third-party payment platforms and use Apple’s in-app purchases payment platform instead so that it can collect the so-called Apple Tax from developers.
If you read the warning, Apple is trying to get consumers to believe that other payment platforms are not “private and secure.” Apple is amping up the fear factor here since there are some well-known payment platforms like PayPal, Square, and Stripe that are secure. The problem is that you might not know whether the platform a developer uses for in-app payments is one of the secure ones.
While Apple should make its message less scary, and could be forced to do so thanks to the DMA, the truth is that developers also should reveal in advance which third-party payment platforms they use. The EU is in favor of transparency and rightfully so. But developers should not be allowed to be less transparent than Apple which, ironically, supports Apple’s use of its scare screen.
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