Here’s another example of Apple’s strained relationship with developers. WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg tweeted that his free iOS app hasn’t been receiving updates for a while because the company has been blocked from the App Store.
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According to his tweet, the team was not able to release updates or bug fixes until it yielded to the Cupertino giant’s demands to add in-app purchases support (of which Apple will receive 30%) for its paid plans from WordPress.com.
Most notably, the WordPress iOS app had no purchases at all – it’s completely free to use. It simply offers users a way to create and manage websites. WordPress sells .com domain names separately, and this seems to be where Apple is trying to make a profit. However, again, these sales don’t go through the WordPress iOS app. Why Apple thinks it should receive some of that income is a mystery.
I am a big believer in the sanctity of licenses. (Open source relies on licenses and copyright.) We agreed to this license when we signed up for (and stayed in) the app store, so going to follow and abide by the rules. Not looking to skirt it, hence doing what they asked us to.
— Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) August 21, 2020
Mullenweg, for his part, seems to be calm about Apple’s demands. “I strongly believe in the inviolability of licenses, – he wrote in his tweet. – We agreed to this license when we signed up and stayed on the app store, so we’re going to follow and abide by the rules. We are not trying to get around them, so we do what we were asked to do. “
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How exactly the developer and his team will comply with the rules is a more complex question. Matt Mullenweg is still trying to figure out how to best approach the situation and comply with Apple’s policies without inconveniencing users. While he is considering rebranding the app or making a payment through a paid WordPress add-on, none of the options has yet been finalized.
Apple recently faced a battle from Epic Games over the App Store operating conditions, as well as growing attention to its market dominance and how it exercises control over developers through its App Store. Let’s see where all this leads.
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