While Apple is currently embroiled in a dispute with Epic Games over App Store commission, the company recently asked WordPress to implement in-app purchases, causing confusion.
WordPress recently publicly announced expressedwhy the open source application did not receive any updates in the App Store. The reason for this was that Apple asked the company to implement in-app purchases. However, the WordPress app does not sell anything; it allows users to create and manage a WordPress-hosted website for free. WordPress does, however, allow users to pay for more storage space, technical support and additional features. However, this is not handled directly through the app, which ultimately led to the problem - for which WordPress is not entirely innocent. Now both companies have agreed that the app can continue to be provided without in-app purchases. But the team behind the open source platform had to make one change.
Apple comments on the misunderstanding
Although the app doesn't technically sell anything, it did include a link that led to the upgrade plans on the website. For this reason, the App Store Review Team found a violation of the guidelines, which state that even cross-platform apps cannot encourage users to pay for content or subscriptions in any way other than through Apple's in-app purchase system. Specifically, it states:
Apps that operate on multiple platforms may allow users to access content, subscriptions, or features purchased in your app on other platforms or your website, including consumables in multiplatform games, provided those items are also available as in-app purchases within the app. You may not directly or indirectly encourage iOS users to use a purchase method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about other purchase methods may not discourage users from using in-app purchase.
Now Mark Gurman, Bloomberg journalist, has received a short statement from Apple and posted on Twitter published. It states:
We believe the issue with the WordPress app has been resolved. Since the developer has removed the display of their service payment options from the app, it is now a free, standalone app and does not need to offer in-app purchases. We have informed the developer and apologize for any confusion we have caused.
The latest update of the WordPress app – version 15.4 – is now available to all users for free download. Disposal. (Photo by bigtunaonline / Bigstockphoto)
