Entrepreneurs are temporarily not required to pay Apple commission for paid live streaming of events via an app, reports The Wall Street Journal Friday.
According to Apple, this is a temporary measure that will in any case apply until the end of 2020. In this way, the company wants to meet entrepreneurs who have to do their work from home due to the corona crisis.
Apple normally only charges a fee for digital products, such as a Netflix subscription or an ebook. That policy does not apply to the purchase of a service that you use in the real world. For example, a gym that also offers subscriptions does not have to pay commission for an app.
But many companies were forced to go digitally due to the corona crisis. For example, yoga teachers must offer their classes online and broadcast them via a live stream. If they do that using an iPhone app, they still fall under Apple’s policy. Initially they had to pay money, but because of the temporary measure that is no longer necessary.
The exception does not apply to games, because manufacturers already released their products completely digitally before the corona crisis.
Apple was already under fire for its App Store policies. The popular game Fortnite added its own payment method to the game and was subsequently removed from the App Store.
The European Commission started an investigation into possible abuse of power in June. Spotify, among others, had complained about the commission that Apple charges.
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