Meta calls out Apple over new App Store rule requiring the use of In-App Purchase for post boosts

Meta has called out Apple after its App Store Review Guideline was updated to clarify that it considers boosting social media posts as digital purchases. This means, in Apple’s terms, apps like Meta’s Facebook must use its In-App Purchase system to sell this service.

To recap, Apple released added rules and revisions to the App Store Review Guideline earlier this week that involved apps used to sell or manage ad campaigns. Apple states in the added policy in section 3.1.3(g) that “buying advertisements to display in the same app” is a digital purchase.

Apple cited the sales of “boosts,” which allows users to practically advertise specific posts on a social media platform, as an example. And in Apple’s long-standing policy, digital goods sold on iOS apps are required to use its In-App Purchase system, where it collects a 30% cut.

“Apple continues to evolve its policies to grow their own business while undercutting others in the digital economy,” the Facebook parent company said in a statement to The Verge. “Apple previously said it didn’t take a share of developer advertising revenue, and now apparently changed its mind.”

It is worth noting that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram are the only social media giants that were not using In-App Purchase prior to the App Store Review Guideline updates this week. Twitter’s Tweet Promotion and TikTok Coins have already been using Apple’s payment system.

In response to Meta’s contentions, Apple spokesperson Peter Ajemian argued that App Store’s rules on in-app purchases have been clear for years. “Boosting, which allows an individual or organization to pay to increase the reach of a post or profile, is a digital service — so of course In-App Purchase is required,” Ajemian told the same publication.

Apple and Meta’s recent back-and-forth seems like a continuation of their public spat when the iPhone maker introduced App Tracking Transparency. The privacy feature, which launched on iOS 14.5 last year, allowed users to block apps from tracking them across other apps and websites. Meta, known as Facebook at the time, condemned this development and argued that it would affect small businesses’ capacity to promote their products and services on platforms like Facebook.

Meta is not the only tech giant to come out with criticisms of Apple’s App Store rules this week. Spotify recently launched an entire website (called Time to Play Fair), where it claimed that Apple’s App Review rejected multiple designs that would have allowed users to purchase audiobooks in one click.

Spotify said the version Apple approved goes against its original plans and will require users to “jump through … as many as 10 hoops and counting” to buy one audiobook from its iOS app. On the same website, Spotify said “fair competition is the last thing Apple wants.”

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