An main e - book vender say Apple ’s policies have push it out of business . iFlowReader isclosing up shop class and pulling out of the App Store , and the company ’s laminitis expects his app ’s departure to be the first of many among e - Quran publishers .
“ I believe they ’re all go to forsake the App Store , ” iFlowReader cobalt - beginner Dennis Morin toldMacworld , referring to his heavy competitors in the space , like Amazon ’s Kindle , Barnes & Noble ’s Nook , and Kobo .
“ Apple is now demand us , as well as all other ebook sellers , to give them 30 per centum of the marketing price of any ebook that we betray from our iOS app , ” Morin tell . In a letter to users posted on iFlowReader ’s Website , the developer explain that Apple ’s policy , combined withthe way model now adopted by most major publishers(which gives trafficker a 30 pct share of the proceeds ) , makes iFlowReader unsustainable .
But whether the major e - book of account sellers really will follow iFlowReader into the night is anything but clear at this point .
What we do have a go at it is that , in February of this year , The New York Timespublished a story featuringcomplaints from Sonyover an App Store rejection . Sony pronounce it had run afoul of an Apple rule that prohibit iOS apps from selling e - Christian Bible unless those transactions die through Apple ’s in - app purchasing cognitive process . That seemed to contradict the evidence : Amazon , Barnes & Noble , Kobo , and others — including iFlowReader — had been selling e - books via their apps for a while now . Had Apple suddenly commute up the rule ?
When contacted byMacworld(and other sales outlet ) , Cupertino denied that this was Modern , responding to Sony ’s title with this instruction :
We have not changed our developer terms or guidelines . We are now requiring that if an app offers client the power to purchase books outside of the app , that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in - app purchase .
That on the face of it ego - contradicting assertion also appears to match the company ’s insurance policy on subscription sales , go forth around the same time . As written , the relevant section of the App Store guidelines is univocal :
Apps can read or play approved content ( magazines , newspapers , books , audio frequency , medicine , video ) that is sell outdoors of the app , for which Apple will not receive any portion of the revenues , provided that the same substance is also proffer in the app using IAP at the same price or less than it is tender outside the app . This use to both purchased message and subscriptions .
All Things Digital also report back in Februarythat Apple had set a deadline for developers , requiring that apps implement the in - app leverage API policy no later than June 30 , 2011 . presumptively , apps that did n’t comply by that point would be removed from the store .
And yet , apart from iFlowReader , we ’ve seen little crusade on the part of e - book sellers so far ; the major vendor have n’t cried revolting about Apple ’s rulesorupdated their apps to stick to the policy . That would seem to propose that either they trust ( or know ) themselves to be nontaxable from Apple ’s stated ruler — birth , perhaps , struck single deals with the party , along the same lines as periodical publishers — or that they still plan on update their apps to abide by by the death of June .
We reached out to several of the Es - record book marketer for clarification on this matter . Mary Ellen Keating , Barnes & Noble ’s senior frailty Chief Executive for corporal communications and public affairs , replied via e - mail : “ We have made no official scuttlebutt on this . ” Similarly , a spokeswoman for east - book seller Kobo only toldMacworld : “ Business as usual , Kobo has no design of leaving the Apple App Store . ” Amazon did not answer to a request for commentary .
But iFlowReader is a small shop , and does n’t necessarily have the clout of those John R. Major , or the power to weather the uncertainty . Even though Apple ’s new policy do n’t kick in until the terminal of June , Morin is shutter the app now . His attempts to reach out to the company and discover some sort of vernacular ground have met with little reception on Apple ’s side .
“ Their basic mental attitude , ” said Morin , “ is ‘ we do n’t have time . ’ ”
And with that , it would appear iFlowReader is out of sentence as well .
