Now they are offering the _option_ to use a subscription service.
Wrong. Please don't misunderstand this new policy as something that is in addition to the existing rules.
The Kindle App currently in the app store (which doesn't offer in-app purchase or subscription) is now probably in violation of the app store guidelines in light of these new terms. They have forced companies that offer any subscription service outside the store to also offer it in the store and with a hefty 30% commission.
It's something in addition to the existing rules (a new feature; recurring subscriptions) and a change to the existing rules (content provided externally from the app store must now also be provided internally to the app store and give Apple their 30% cut).
I don't care much about the former; I don't like the latter.
It's also not yet clear whether this applies to any subscription service or merely content subscription services. Even within the concept of content subscription services, it's not clear whether this applies only to downloadable content (a la The Daily or Amazon Kindle) or streaming "rental"-type content (a la Netflix or Hulu).
Apple will need to clarify those positions, but I believe that this probably applies to downloadable content only. I do not believe that it applies to services (e.g., Dropbox or Salesforce, etc.) or to rental services (e.g., Hulu or Netflix).
This rule change badly hurts reseller-distributors (Amazon Kindle, Amazon Audible, B&N, Kobo, etc.); they don't have 30% of margin to give up and they can't afford to raise the price on everything 30%+ across the board just so they can stay in the iOS game. This is (to me) clearly anticompetitive and probably is just at the edge of antitrust-legal.
This rule change does not (immediately, if ever) hurt content owner-distributors (newspapers, magazines, major publishers). I say "(immediately, if ever)" because this is access to an additional stream of income, although it's at a fairly high premium. Apple's 30% may be a fairly low customer acquisition cost, though. The newspaper that it might hurt a little is the WSJ as (IIRC) it doesn't give access to all content unless you're already a WSJ subscriber. They will probably be required to implement in-app purchase to a WSJ-app subscription for an update very soon.
Yeah, this confused me a lot. The press release [1] says quite clearly:
> Apple does require that if a publisher chooses to sell a digital subscription separately outside of the app, that same subscription offer must be made available, at the same price or less, to customers who wish to subscribe from within the app. In addition, publishers may no longer provide links in their apps (to a web site, for example) which allow the customer to purchase content or subscriptions outside of the app.
It's that last clause which clearly states that apps like the the current Kindle app, which includes a "Buy Books" link at the top, will no longer be allowed.
This will be a massive shock to the nascent content-based app market on iOS. I can see only two possibilities for developers of these existing apps: primary producers of content who can afford to wear the extra 30% will just lose on their margin; or apps reduce the price of content on iOS so the Apple cut isn't as big. Neither option will be particularly palatable to most producers. Many might avoid the platform entirely.
But over the long term, I suspect this will have a positive disruptive effect in the iOS content market. Smaller producers who can build a business model around the 30% cut by Apple (similar to app developers) will have a better chance at maintaining a healthy margin.
So under the new guidelines, can Amazon distribute an app that lets you read Kindle books you’ve already purchased in other ways, with a note “we can’t actually make a clicky link here, but open up Safari and go to amazon.com to buy more books”?
Wrong. Please don't misunderstand this new policy as something that is in addition to the existing rules.
The Kindle App currently in the app store (which doesn't offer in-app purchase or subscription) is now probably in violation of the app store guidelines in light of these new terms. They have forced companies that offer any subscription service outside the store to also offer it in the store and with a hefty 30% commission.