LONDON: Apple has updated its guidelines around cryptocurrency and non-fungible token payments, revising existing rules and clarifying its controversial stance that previously created confusion among users.
The Cupertino company announced the updates to its App Store Review Guidelines on Monday using new and clearer language to explain its policy.
According to the new rules, apps must use Apple’s in-app purchase system to sell NFTs and related services and “may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct consumers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase,” Apple said in a statement.
Users will still be able to “display, share and browse NFT collections,” but apps are prohibited from unlocking additional content or features.
Apps also cannot use their own mechanisms to unlock functionality, such as “license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, cryptocurrencies, and cryptocurrency wallets.”
In addition, the company said it does not allow cryptocurrency to be used as a form of payment for in-app purchases.
The tech giant said it welcomed crypto exchanges and other digital token trading apps but warned developers that those exchanges must have the necessary regional permit to operate where the app is available.
The new guidelines that force apps to funnel payments through Apple’s own payment system are likely to renew a lot of debates.
Last month, tech giant and Fortnite developer Epic Games entered a legal battle with the Californian company after Apple announced it was going to take a hefty 30-percent cut of all NFTs sold in apps offered through its platform.
Apple justified its decision saying it is the “only sure way to secure users and their sensitive information,” but Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney accused the Cupertino company of “crushing another nascent technology that could rival its grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service” and said it “must be stopped.”
In addition, Apple has also introduced new guidelines that prohibit developers from capitalizing or seeking to profit from recent events such as violent conflicts, terrorist attacks or epidemics.
