Apple Allows Third-Party Payments in South Korea App Store

01 JULY 2022 - Apple has given in to the demands of South Korean regulators, though in a way that sounds nothing like caving. TechCrunch says “Apple announced Thursday that developers can now use a third-party payment system for the South Korea App Store.” Seriously though, it sounds neither easy nor worth the trouble. According to the report, Apple specified that developers will have to “submit a separate binary for iOS or iPadOS ‘distributed solely on the App Store in South Korea.’” Meanwhile the commission Apple will charge developers using third-party payment systems falls from Apple’s usual 30% all the way down to 26%. Developers will also have to make it clear to customers that features like Ask to Buy and Family Sharing will not be available, since Apple won’t be able to validate the purchase.

Otherwise, it sounds awesome.

Apple’s plan still has to meet with approval from the Korea Communication Commission. I hate to be pessimistic, but I really don’t think we’ve heard the last of this story.