Apple changes US App Store rules to let apps link to external payment systems

Apple has changed its App Store rules in the U.S. to let apps link users to their own websites so they can buy subscriptions or other digital goods.

This change comes after a U.S. court ruled in favor of Epic Games in a case against the iPhone maker, ordering the latter not to prohibit apps from including features that could redirect users to their own websites for making digital purchases.

“The App Review Guidelines have been updated for compliance with a United States court decision regarding buttons, external links, and other calls to action in apps,” Apple said in a blog post.

The lawsuit that Epic Games brought in 2020 concerned the amount of control Apple had over transactions done in apps hosted on its App Store. In 2021, the game studio won an injunction that ordered Apple to give developers more options to redirect users to their own websites so they could avoid paying the tech giant a 30% cut.

After its appeal against the injunction failed, Apple last year started allowing other apps to link out and use non-Apple payment mechanisms, but it still took a 27% commission, and also added what critics called “scare screens.”

This week’s ruling means Apple must stop showing these “scare screens,” and the company has already removed guidelines around how these screens and links should contain certain language.

We have asked Apple to confirm if it would stop charging apps a commission on payments made via external links, and we will update the story if we hear back.

As for Apple, it’s not happy with the ruling. “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal,” the company said in a statement.

Spotify, which has also been fighting with Apple over the same issue in various geographies, has already submitted a version of its app to the U.S. App Store with links to let users buy its subscription externally.