Apple and Google have been asked to provide compliance plans for a newly amended law in South Korea that bars both tech giants from forcing developers to using their in-app purchase payment system for their respective app distribution platforms, Reutersreports.
In August, South Korea passed an amendment to an existing law that bans Apple and Google from mandating developers to use their own proprietary in-app purchasing system. Apple's in-app purchasing system gives the company a 15 to 30% commission for all purchases made and has been a hot topic for Apple and the discussion around the App Store for some time. Under the new law in South Korea, which is yet to go into effect, Apple and Google will be required to allow developers to use third-party payment methods within their app.
Apple has in recent weeks made some concessions to its App Store policy, most notably pivoting to allow developers to add links in their apps to external websites where purchases can be made. Those concessions come short of the mandate created by South Korea, which permits developers to add third-party payment methods directly within their app.
Apple has continued to call its in-app purchasing system the most trusted and safest way for customers to make purchases. Still, in light of recent decisions in its lawsuit against Epic Games, the Cupertino tech giant is being forced to rethink its model.
Apple operates the App Store under a single set of policies worldwide, and while the law passed in South Korea pertains to South Korean users, it will undoubtedly play a domino effect across the globe. With the mid-October deadline now set in South Korea for Apple and Google, we'll likely see how this decision could have repercussions around the world for Apple users soon.
Wednesday February 19, 2025 8:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today introduced the iPhone 16e, its newest entry-level smartphone. The device succeeds the third-generation iPhone SE, which has now been discontinued.
The iPhone 16e features a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, up from a 4.7-inch LCD on the iPhone SE. The display has a notch for Face ID, and this means that Apple no longer sells any iPhones with a Touch ID fingerprint button, marking the ...
Tuesday February 18, 2025 12:02 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Over the years, Apple has switched from an aluminum frame to a stainless steel frame to a titanium frame for its highest-end iPhones. And now, it has been rumored that Apple will go back to using aluminum for three out of four iPhone 17 models.
In an investor note with research firm GF Securities, obtained by MacRumors this week, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the iPhone 17, iPhone...
Thursday February 20, 2025 5:06 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Now that Apple has announced its new more affordable iPhone 16e, our thoughts turn to what else we are expecting from the company this spring.
There are three product categories that we are definitely expecting to get upgraded before spring has ended. Keep reading to learn what they are. If we're lucky, Apple might make a surprise announcement about a completely new product category.
M4...
Wednesday February 19, 2025 11:38 am PST by Juli Clover
Following the launch of the iPhone 16e, Apple updated its iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia pages to give a narrower timeline on when the next updates are set to launch.
All three pages now state that new Apple Intelligence features and languages will launch in early April, an update from the more broader April timeframe that Apple provided before. The next major point updates will be iOS ...
Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
Apple today announced its first custom cellular modem with the name "C1," debuting in the all-new iPhone 16e.
The new modem contributes to the iPhone 16e's power efficiency, giving it the longest battery life of any iPhone with a 6.1-inch display, such as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16.
Expanding the benefits of Apple silicon, C1 is the first modem designed by Apple and the most...
Tuesday February 18, 2025 8:46 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is permanently closing its retail store at the Northbrook Court shopping mall in the Chicago area. The company confirmed the upcoming closure today in a statement, but it has yet to provide a closing date for the location.
Apple Northbrook opened in 2005, and the store moved to a larger space in the mall in 2017.
Apple confirmed that affected employees will continue to work for the...
Here's a plan to allow for outside payment: remove your app from whichever app store, launch it on your own platform, and accept payments through that. "But then I'd have to build my own platform and it wouldn't have hundreds of millions of users like Apple and Google do." Yeah, that's the point - you have to give in order to get, I don't understand developers wanting all the benefits of these world class ecosystems but without paying into them. I'd love to drive a Lambo at the price of a Civic but I don't live in South Korea so I'd never win that court case.
I wish I could sell product on amazon without paying fees to amazon. Or have a space in a department store at no cost. These guys are pushing apple and google to do the same thing.
