Apple blocked Facebook to inform users that Apple would collect 30 percent of in-app purchases through a planned new feature, Facebook told Reuters. Apple said the update violated an App Store rule that developers do not display “irrelevant” information to users.
The feature lets Facebook users buy tickets directly for online events through the app. Apple’s rules say digital content purchases must use the App Store’s payment system, giving Apple 30 percent of the total. Facebook says that Apple asked to wait for this fee so that all proceeds can go to event organizers, but Apple refused. The feature is available now, but without the message about Apple’s 30 percent cut.
Earlier this month, Facebook released an image showing what the message would look like in the app.
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The planned message on Android was expected that “Facebook will not charge for this purchase.” According to Reuters, that message also does not appear in the version of the app downloaded via Google Play.
“Now more than ever, we need to have the option to help people understand where the money they are aiming for for small businesses actually goes,” Facebook said in a statement to Reuters. “Unfortunately, Apple rejected our transparency announcement running its 30 percent tax cut, but we are still working to make this information available in the app experience.”
It’s unclear exactly how Facebook could do about it, and it’s not surprising that Apple blocked the announcement. Apple has been strict on apps trying to explain the App Store policy – apps like Netflix, Kindle and Spotify, for example, can not claim that users can pay on the web without Apple cutting, much less provide a link to do so.
What seems clear is that Facebook, by conducting business in public, is viewing a feature that was probably not approved in the intended state, to further discuss Apple’s App Store policy, which ‘ t have never been more controversial. In recent months, developers of email client Hey na Fortnite makers Epic Games have gone public with a litany of complaints, mostly regarding Apple’s fight to control in-app purchases.
