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Newsletter subscription platform Substack will begin taking advantage of an option on the U.S. App Store that allows users to make purchases outside of Apple’s in-app purchasing system. This functionality is permitted by a change to the App Store’s rules in May, as a result of Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant.
Since then, a number of top apps have moved to offer in-app purchase links that point to their own websites, including Spotify, Patreon, and the Amazon Kindle app, among others.
In Substack’s case, support for external payments will benefit both the company, which no longer has to pay the App Store a commission on those web sales, and consumers, who will have access to reduced pricing. Meanwhile, Substack creators will be able to offer their readers the option of whether they want the convenience of Apple’s in-app payments system (IAP) or the web payment option, which is now accessible without having to leave the app.
Substack explains it will automatically adjust its customers’ iOS app price higher to account for Apple’s fees, allowing creators to take home the same amount of money as a web subscription. However, Substack writers can disable this feature if they choose. (Substack will continue to take its own 10% fee based on the web subscription price, as before.)
The company said in its blog post that it’s also offering its writers “migration tools.” We originally reported that these could help migrate users from one payments platform to another, but Substack reached out to correct this. Instead, it said that the tools are meant to help creators access billing information for Apple-managed subscriptions if they ever leave the platform.
Currently, more than 30,000 publications on the platform have in-app purchases enabled; Substack says early tests of the expanded set of payment options have driven a boost in paid sign-ups. It did not, however, share specific numbers related to this.
The public launch of the external payments option will only impact new Substack subscriptions. Substack writers don’t have to take any action unless they want to lower the prices for those using Apple’s payments system.
Per Apple’s App Store rules, fully opting out of offering IAP is not allowed.
While the changes impact the Substack app in the U.S., the company says it’s still evaluating if it makes sense to switch to the more complex rules Apple offers in the EU and U.K. for developers who want to forgo IAP.
Updated after publication to correct and clarify how the migration tools work.
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