Facebook is the next major brand to step forward against Apple’s App Store policy of taking a 30-percent cut on revenues earned in subscriptions or in-app transactions. The social media giant’s scrutiny towards the iPhone maker came days after the kerfuffle initiated between the latter and Epic Games.
According to Bloomberg, Facebook commented on Apple’s policy when questioned by journalists during a launch of a new paid live streaming service on 15 August 2020. The company had requested Apple to waiver the cut on App Store purchases from the newly launched service in order to help small businesses and creators. However, the Cupertino-based tech giant declined.
On the other hand, Facebook noted that Google had agreed to skip on Play Store commissions when approached with the same request. With this, Apple’s insistence on standing its ground regarding its policies have placed it in a tough spot. Even more so with the current legal battle with Epic Games.
Facebook executive Fidji Simo said that the company will not be taking a cut of revenue generated from the new service, and all proceeds go directly to creators. “Helping small businesses recover from Covid-19 is a critical thing that all tech companies should help with,” she told reporters. “The reason we’re calling [Apple] out here is we hope they join us and end up waving their fees, so that’s really the goal here.”
Apple has yet to comment regarding this.
(Source: Bloomberg)
