We've had an app for many years, and when we developed it, we made all links to donations and our online webstore to be an external link, so that there was no money being transacted in the app.
This was to avoid the (let's call it the) 30% Apple tax.
My question is, does this still exist, and do we still have to send a user outside of the app to overcome this, or can we now have an in-app browser that allows for a user to be directed to a website which has a store (to buy physical goods), or collects monetary donations?
I understand there are provisions for not-for-profits, but most of the reference material I've found is related to using their in-app purchasing system.
I have found these rules here:
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/
This rule suggests that you shouldn't be using in-app purchasing, but it doesn't mention if you take payments via in in-app browser whether you'll cop the 30% penalty:
3.1.3(e) Goods and Services Outside of the App: If your app enables people to purchase physical goods or services that will be consumed
outside of the app, you must use purchase methods other than in-app
purchase to collect those payments, such as Apple Pay or traditional
credit card entry.
Can anyone clarify about taking payments inside of an app, and if my suspicions are still valid?
Best Answer
You totally can get approved as a non-profit and have direct payments via in-app browser and avoid all fees on the transactions.
Also, the small business program offers significant relief for discount to IAP fees if you want to go IAP or the review / approval doesn’t go your way.
To reach the equivalent of 30% fee you have to be a whale (tens of millions of dollars in IAP) on the store now, not that you start out at that level.
I would not mix goods and services with charity unless you’re sure of how you’ll represent it to the review board and have assistance from a financial professional and a lawyer on retainer so you have contract advice and are not just doing this on a whim as a sole developer. Having official recognition of your charity will go a long way, but you also need guidance on Apple’s contracts to know what they mean specifically to you in many cases.