There has been an unenforced loophole in China’s App Store that has allowed developers to funnel in-app payments to external payment processors, and Apple is reportedly leaning on Tencent and ByteDance to make it stop.
iPhone 16 Pro is expected to see a super cycle, driven by China sales
iPhone 16 Pro is expected to see a super cycle, driven by China sales
Apple had reportedly blocked ByteDance from updating Douyin — essentially TikTok in China unless it prevents developers from having users pay outside the App Store. It hasn’t quite gone that far with Tencent, but it has issued a warning that it must do the same for external links in mini-games, or it will block WeChat updates.
For the latter, a Friday report from Bloomberg claims that Apple wants Tencent to shut down in-game chat between mini-game creators and players, which has been key to steering players off the App Store to pay. And, reportedly, Apple is talking to the developers of those games directly as well.
Originally appeared here:
Apple leaning on dominant Chinese companies to comply with App Store payment rules