Brave Rewards Not Allowed in App Store
Brave Software (tweet, via Tim Sweeney, Hacker News, MacRumors):
Today Brave is releasing a new version (1.22) of its iOS browser in order to comply with recent stipulations made by Apple. In a nutshell, Brave users on iPhones and iPads will no longer be able to earn rewards for their attention, and will no longer be able to tip their favorite online creators via Brave. These changes to our Brave Rewards system do not apply to our desktop and Android browsers.
Around the iOS 14 release, Apple raised some concerns about our iOS app and deemed that Brave Rewards was not compliant with their guidelines 3.1.1 and 3.2.2, and required immediate remedies. Brave Rewards is built on the Basic Attention Token (BAT) and is a new way to value attention, connecting users, content creators, and advertisers. Users are rewarded in BAT with 70% of the ad revenue share of the privacy-preserving ads they opt into viewing, and they can support content creators they love by rewarding them with BAT. There are currently over 985,000 Brave verified content creators.
Apple’s guideline 3.1.1 prevents apps from allowing users to give to, or tip a person, company, or service — unless what is given is purchased via an Apple in-app purchase. Brave users who had opted into our Brave Rewards system could give their BAT to a verified creator and support their content via a feature we call Tipping, but going forward this won’t be possible on iOS.
It’s not clear to me why this was allowed before but now isn’t. I don’t think the “tasks for cash” rule applies here.
Previously:
- ProtonMail Forced to Add IAP
- Potential
- WordPress Bug Fixes Blocked Over IAP
- The Hotel Cupertino Clause
- Brave Rewards Update
- Basic Attention Token
3 Comments RSS · Twitter
More like: Apple decides to enforce the pettiness codified in their existing contracts. This may be disappointing but it can't be surprising.
