Apple Allowing External Links to Account Management for “Reader” Apps

31 MARCH 2022 - Apple seems to be making business easier for reader apps. Clam down, anti-poindexter, we’re not talking about actual reading, necessarily. As a piece from TechCrunch explains, reader apps are “apps designed primarily to provide access to some sort of digital content, like magazines, books, audio, music, or video.” The piece says Apple let developers know Wednesday that they will be able “to link to an external website where users can create or manage their accounts with the app developer.”

Peace in our time? Maybe, but still kind of a pain in the backside. The Netflixes and Spotifys of the world can’t just hit the links. Rather, TechCrunch says:

…Apple instructs developers to apply for something it calls the External Link Account Entitlement in order to provide this functionality in their own apps. An entitlement is something Apple uses when it wants to still have control over the situation in terms of which developers can implement a certain feature. That is, instead of just changing the App Store rules so this type of behavior is broadly permitted for apps in the supported category, the entitlement process requires developers to ask and then receive approval for this special use case. This way, Apple can very carefully vet the apps being allowed to add the links…

Plenty more rules where those came from. It’s not nothin’, though it’s not likely to make everybody happy. Because - seriously - these days, what does?