Following a trend set by a number of other companies, video streaming service Netflix is no longer allowing new customers to subscribe via iTunes, or at least by way of an in-app purchase on their iPhone or iPad.
The change began rolling out globally in late November, according to a VentureBeat article published on Friday. Users who used the in-app option earlier will continue to be billed through iTunes, but once service is canceled for at least a month, they’ll be forced to resubscribe on the Web and then log back into the iOS app.
It’s thought that the change was made to avoid having to pay Apple’s 30 percent cut of in-app transaction fees. While this cute can shrink to 15 percent for long-term subscribers, it still means that subscription services must either lose a substantial amount of profit or increase their App Store pricing, which risks alienating customers.
One of the best-known examples of this problem was faced by Spotify, which for some time charged in-app Premium subscribers $3 extra. It eventually soured on the discrepancy and abandoned the in-app option.
Spotify went on to argue that the App Store policies gave Apple an unfair advantage, given that services like Apple Music are not only untouched by revenue sharing, but are also integrated into every Apple device on the market. Other critics have suggested that it’s unfair for Apple to claim revenue from content it doesn’t produce or host.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and VentureBeat