Apple is infamous for the high commission fees it charges developers. For the unfamiliar, devs have to pay the Cupertino tech overlord 30% of every user subscription done through the App Store. After a year, this rate drops to 15% -- which is still a relatively expensive processing fee. This pressured companies like Netflix and Spotify to remove the subscription buttons from their iOS apps at some point.
One of the downsides of removing the subscription button from these apps was the inability to reference a third-party source to pay for it. So when users would launch the Netflix app on iOS, they'd only see a Sign In button and an apology alert. The alert highlighted that the app doesn't support signing up. However, it didn't mention that users can join through the Netflix website -- as Apple had banned that. So users would have to figure out how to join the service for the first time on their own.
Earlier this year, Apple started allowing reader apps to link to their own, external subscription webpages. The Cupertino firm defines a reader app as one that its primary functionality revolves around magazines, audio, video, etc. This makes Netflix eligible to take advantage of this entitlement, and it indeed has. The Netflix app on iOS and iPadOS is now rolling out an external Sign Up button that links users to the company's webpage. When clicking it, the mandatory pop-up message warns users, stating:
Any accounts or purchases made outside of this app will be managed by the developer “Netflix.” Your App Store account, stored payment methods, and related features, such as subscription management and refund requests, will not be available. Apple is not responsible for the privacy or security of transactions made with this developer.
After an iOS user clicks on Continue, they're redirected to the Netflix sign-up page in their web browser of choice. This change is a very welcome one. That's because users who aren't very tech-savvy might've found joining the service confusing prior to this addition. It's yet to be seen what other apps will follow suit.
Has Netflix rolled out the external Sign Up button on its iOS app to you yet? Let us know in the comments section below.
Source: 9to5Mac