Subscriptions for content-based apps – magazines, newspapers, video, music etc – can be purchased from within Apple’s App Store using the same billing system that has thus far been used for normal apps and In-app purchases.
Apple will get 30% of the subscription for purchases through its App Store – the same share that it charges today for other In-App Purchases.
The billing model is the same as the digital subscription billing service that Apple recently launched with News Corp.’s “The Daily” app.
Publishers set the price and length of subscription (weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly). Customers pick the length of subscription and are automatically charged based on their chosen length of commitment.
Customers can review and manage all of their subscriptions from their personal account page, including canceling the automatic renewal of a subscription.
“Our philosophy is simple—when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.
“All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app.”
Publishers who use Apple’s subscription service in their app can also leverage other methods for acquiring digital subscribers outside of the app.
For example, publishers can sell digital subscriptions on their web sites, or can choose to provide free access to existing subscribers. Since Apple is not involved in these transactions, there is no revenue sharing or exchange of customer information with Apple. Publishers must provide their own authentication process inside the app for subscribers that have signed up outside of the app.
However, Apple does require that if a publisher chooses to sell a digital subscription separately outside of the app, that same subscription offer must be made available, at the same price or less, to customers who wish to subscribe from within the app.
In addition, publishers may no longer provide links in their apps (to a web site, for example) which allow the customer to purchase content or subscriptions outside of the app.
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