apple-logo1[1]Although the deadline for iPhone apps to be brought in line with Apple’s new in-app purchase rules recently passed, InfoWorld reports that Apple is still quietly working with developers to bring apps into compliance before the company begins enforcing the restrictions.

Under the current form of Apple’s in-app purchase guidelines, apps such as Amazon’s Kindle app can continue allowing users to download externally-purchased content as long as there is no link or button within the app to redirect the iPhone user to the external purchasing source.

At the time of the policy’s announcement, All Things Digital reported that a memo from Apple to publishers had set a deadline of June 30 for compliance. However, sources tell Macworld that the deadline was less of a hard-and-fast date than a rough target for bringing apps into line with the new policy.

InfoWorld notes that various iPhone apps such as Hulu Plus and Netflix have already updated to remove links. Netflix includes a “Visit netflix.com to sign up” notice on the login screen, but does not provide an actual link to launch the browser. It expects that the Kindle, Nook, and Google Books apps will also have their web-store buttons removed in the near future.

It is annoying that Apple, who has previously built its business on making things more convenient for its users, is now taking options away, but on the bright side those who’ve bought e-books from these stores will continue to be permitted to download them to the iPhone.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Agreed. It seems that Apple’s new motto for their iDevices is, “It just irritates.” I usually buy ebooks on my iMac and have them sent to my Kindle, but if I were on the road a lot, i’d be ticked off at have to go through so many unnecessary steps just because Apple has a Greed Complex. Apple’s also looking like they didn’t do their homework. Physical books aren’t like magazines, where the subscription price includes printing and mailing costs. Book publisher rarely cover the cost of shipping their physical books directly to customers, so they don’t see Apple saving them any money there. They’re also likely to think, “We edited and formatted this ebook, so why should Apple give the money we saved by not printing it?” The retailers are in a similar situation. Amazon and the other online stores never pay 30% for what little Apple is offering them, which seems to be little more than a link and perhaps running a credit card transaction. For about 4-5% in kickbacks Amazon can get popular bloggers to recommend and link to their books in far more detail and far more effectively than Apple will ever do. Amazon, Apple, and Google seem intent on demonstrating at the corporate level what studies have shown is true at the personal level. People with modest incomes give a larger portion of their incomes that the wealthy and they typically do so with less show. The richer each of those three have grown, the greedier they seem to have gotten. Amazon wants to gobble up one of their few major global competitors, The Book Depository. Apple wants a 30% cut for iDevice purchases where they’ve done little to nothing. Google tried to abrogated the US copyright of every out-of-print book on the planet. **** Speaking of irritating. The last week or so, posting to Teleread via Google forces users to deal an attempt by Google to sign us up for Google Buzz. The wording is more than a little deceptive. It seems to be saying that we can’t post without signing up, which then proves to be untrue. Google should at least be paying Teleread for allowing it to hassle us .

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