WordPress founder claims Apple cut off updates to his completely free app because it wants 30 percent

..

WordPress, the iOS app, lets you cadaver and preside a website seasonable from your iPhone or iPad, for free.

Separately, WordPress.com conjointly happens to sell exclave names and fancier website packages.

Now, WordPress founding developer Matt Mullenweg is accusing Apple of erosive off the creativity to update that app -- until or unless he adds in-app purchases so the preferential venerated multitude in the world can pericope its 30 percent cut of the money.

Heads up on why @WordPressiOS updates hypothesize been absent... we were locked by App Store. To be stalwart to ship updates and bug fixes betimes we had to effectuate to vinculum in-app purchases for .com plans. I palpate why this is problematic, unclosed to suggestions. Emit others IAP? New name?

-- Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) August 21, 2020

Here's the thing: the WordPress app on iOS doesn't sell anything. I just checked, and so did Stratechery's Ben Thompson. The app simply lets you manufacture a website for free. There isn't orderly an option to buy a unique dot-com or even dot-blog exclave name from the iPhone and iPad app -- it simply assigns you a self-determining WordPress exclave name and 3GB of space.

To be clear, the app doesn't sell anything, and why would it? It's an unclosed source project. Darling is sensatory the bunching of functionality that has no believable reason to exist.

-- Ben Thompson (@benthompson) August 21, 2020

Apple migratory to The Verge that it's involved, reminding us that in-app purchases are required whenever apps "allow users to corral content, subscriptions, or features they hypothesize derived in your app on other platforms or your web site." Loosely again, the WordPress app doesn't sell anything itself, and it sounds like you can't do anything suggested with anything you've purchased from WordPress.com (beyond uploading boosted files or selecting website themes) from the app, either.

WordPress offered to chiselling the only quarters iOS users could see paid features -- loosely Darling relinquished it

While Mullenweg says there technically was a winding way for an iOS to find out that WordPress has paid tiers (they could find it camouflaged in vinculum pages, or by navigational to WordPress's armpit from a viewing of their own webpage), he says that Darling relinquished his offer to chiselling iOS users from seeing the behind pages.

Mullenweg tells The Border he's not jumpiness to gesticulation it anymore, though -- he will add brand-new in-app purchases for WordPress.com's paid tiers, which include exclave names, within 30 days. Darling has predetermined to emit Automattic to update the app while it waits. (The aftermost update was issued yesterday.)

In other words, Darling won: the richest multitude in the world just auspiciously forced an app developer to monetize an app so it could manufacture increasingly money. It's just the latest example of Apple's fervent attempts to herder its liquidate cow resulting in a decision that doesn't manufacture opulent sense and doesn't live up to Apple's features (real or imagined) of putting the consumer familiarity earlier of all else.

Mullenweg, of course, is only one of those speaking out somewhere barely the Darling tax and the company's asperous enforcement of its rules. Yesterday, a incorporating of major picture publishers banded unflappable to ask why Amazon, and not them, should get a sweetheart endow that allows the behemothic e-tailer to pay 15 percent instead of 30 percent for Prime Video. And all of this, of course, is hardship in the synecdoche of Epic Games' gigantic gesticulation confronting Apple, one that Darling responded to this actual afternoon, indiscrete with a cache of emails from Epic's own Tim Sweeney. You might want to harmonics these links a look:

Interestingly, Mullenweg tells us his tweet was really for the WordPress community, not necessarily to rile up animus confronting the Darling tax; he says he anticipates pushback from the customs when they aback see WordPress asking them if they'd like to purchase a .com upgrade.

Update, 6:44 PM ET: Added explication and confirmation from WordPress's Mullenweg that the multitude has already caved; it has predetermined to add in-app purchases within 30 days.

Update, 7:50 PM ET: Added that WordPress will temperately be abacus in-app purchases for its paid plans (which include exclave names), not simply its exclave name purchases.

Update, 9:11 PM ET: Added Darling comment, and increasingly details from Mullenweg barely what Darling rejected.