Apple is discouraging Europeans from using iOS apps with alternative payment options by flagging them as risky. John Gruber of Daring Fireball noticed that Instacar’s App Store listing prominently features a red exclamation mark icon and a warning that it doesn’t use Apple’s “private and secure payment system.”
Jess Weatherbed for The Verge:
Instacar, a three-year-old Hungarian app for checking the mileage and value of used cars, isn’t available on the US App Store. But in Hungary, in the EU, it’s listed as one of the top five apps in the Business category, with thousands of positive reviews — not a typical service that would warrant heightened caution. The only gripe that Apple seemingly has is that Instacar uses an external payment system, and that App Store payment features like purchase history, Family Sharing, and unified subscription management won’t be available on such purchases.
“When you create an account on a developer’s external website, you may have to provide personal information, including payment information, directly to the developer or third-party partners,” Apple says in a support page linked from its warning message. “You will be trusting the developer, as well as any partners and payment providers they work with, to handle your information based on their privacy and security controls.”
MacDailyNews Take: Facts are facts.
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European consumers are typically more sensitive to privacy and consumer protection.
This move by Apple should/could discourage a large percentage of Apple users from going through a third party. I don’t know of any user who has had a bad experience with the App Store payment system and/or privacy policy.