{"id":28172,"date":"2020-02-18T15:40:06","date_gmt":"2020-02-18T20:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=28172"},"modified":"2020-02-18T15:40:06","modified_gmt":"2020-02-18T20:40:06","slug":"youtube-app-ending-in-app-purchase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/18\/youtube-app-ending-in-app-purchase\/","title":{"rendered":"YouTube App Ending In-App Purchase"},"content":{"rendered":"

Juli Clover<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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YouTube today sent out emails to customers who are subscribed to its YouTube TV service through Apple’s App Store, letting them know that App Store subscriptions are going to be discontinued in March.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

The YouTube TV app will need to remove all references to subscribing and signing up from its app when in-app purchases disappear, as Apple does not allow apps to link out to third-party subscription purchase options.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Chris Welch<\/a> (tweet<\/a>):<\/p>\n

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Other streaming TV services like Sling TV and Hulu with Live TV don’t offer in-app subscriptions. (Hulu does for its regular on-demand service, however.)<\/p>\n

An increasing number of popular services, including Spotify, have stopped accepting new subscriptions through in-app purchases. But in Spotify’s case, the company allows existing customers to keep paying through Apple.<\/p>\n

Apple’s developer terms require a 70 \/ 30 split in a customer’s first year of paying for a subscription through the App Store. After that, the developer gets 85 percent, and Apple takes 15. YouTube TV regularly costs $49.99, but subscribers who pay through Apple are charged a higher $54.99 to help offset Apple’s rules. But apparently, YouTube no longer wants to bother with that, either.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Even with the multi-year discount and charging iOS users $5 extra, Google was still ending up with less by using IAP. Prioritizing services revenue means Apple gets 30\/15% of $0, customers get a worse experience, and Google gets their personal information.<\/p>\n\n

Russell Ivanovic<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Let’s be honest. Apple taking a 30% cut for simply processing a transaction is beyond ridiculous. That it drops to 15% in year 2 isn’t better. Other payment processors charge 2.5% 🤪<\/p>\n

Or put another way: if Apple gave you the option to use someone else how many people would keep using their service at the current pricing? If the answer is “almost no one” then it’s not a competitive or good service. It’s a monopoly<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n