With all of the drama surrounding Apple’s new in-app subscription guidelines as applied to software as a service, one MacRumors reader emailed Steve Jobs the following:
Hello Steve,
As a full time iOS developer, I am concerned (and confused) withe the new App Store guideline regarding “Apps offering subscriptions” (section 11.12).
Most of the iOS apps I have developed, as a contractor for other businesses, have been free apps that had login screens to allow the user access to some amount of private data. and/or service. These businesses have all been well established companies that sell some kind of service to their customers (Software As a Service companies) and the iOS app was merely another “portal” for their users to access their data/services (in many times, in a limited i.e. “mobile” fashion)…. for example; SalesForce. I am concerned that most of these businesses will choose to not develop an iOS app for their customers if the IAP & subscription policy was in place.
Would these type’s of free apps be still be allowed in the App Store or will they now be expected to use IAP?
Steve Jobs’ response was expectedly terse but promising.
We created subscriptions for publishing apps, not SaaS apps.
Sent from my iPhone
via MacRumors
Tue, Feb 22, 2011
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