On Monday, in an unannounced change, Apple revised its rules to give magazine, newspaper, music and video publishers more freedom to sell their content on apps directly without going through iTunes.
Apple confirmed the changes, which came in updated guidelines issued for application developers. But the company did not comment further. The changes were first reported by the Web site MacRumors.
Apple’s rules, which had not yet gone into effect, had come under attack from some publishers, who complained that giving Apple such a hefty cut would put them out of business. Some publishers threatened to remove their apps altogether from Apple devices, and the rules attracted scrutiny from federal antitrust regulators.
But other major media companies recently reached agreements to sell subscriptions through Apple.
In February, Apple introduced a subscription mechanism for iPhone and iPad apps that required companies to offer customers the option of buying content like magazines or music through its payment system. The rules also barred companies from offering a better deal to customers if they paid for a subscription elsewhere, say on a company’s own Web site. Apps that did not comply were not authorized on Apple devices.
Under the new rules, companies can sell the subscriptions to their content on their own Web site at any price they choose, and make that content available in iPhone and iPad apps. Publishers are no longer required to offer users the option to purchase the content directly from within their app, but if they do, the transaction must go through the iTunes store, and Apple will still get a 30 percent cut. Publishers are still not allowed to put a “buy” button in their app that circumvents the iTunes stores, say by directing users to their Web site.
Apple’s prior rules sparked concerns among many publishers, even though they had not gone into effect yet. But relations between Apple and some major media companies warmed in recent weeks, after Apple showed flexibility on another sticking point: its willingness to give magazine publishers data about subscribers that signed up through iTunes.
Hearst and Condé Nast, the second and third largest American magazine publishers, recently reached agreements to sell subscriptions through Apple. Time Inc., the largest magazine publisher, is still negotiating with the technology giant but cut a deal in which subscribers to Sports Illustrated, Time and Fortune can read their magazines on the iPad free as long as they verified their identity
Others have sought ways to bypass Apple’s rules completely. For instance, The Financial Times, the British daily, on Tuesday introduced a mobile Web app that worked in a similar way that an iPad or iPhone app works, but can be accessed through a Web browser. The goal was to circumvent Apple’s store and hefty commission.
The music service Rhapsody, which had criticized Apple’s earlier rules as unworkable and had threatened to pull its app, said Thursday that it was still reviewing the new rules.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: June 9, 2011
An earlier version of this story mischaracterized The Financial Times's motivation for shifting to a Web-based app. It was to avoid Apple's store, not to attract readers from the store.
Correction: June 9, 2011
An earlier version of this story mischaracterized The Financial Times's motivation for shifting to a Web-based app. It was to avoid Apple's store, not to attract readers from the store.
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