Some users of TikTok are allegedly being directed to acquire coins from an outside website in order to avoid paying in-app purchase fees on the Apple App Store.
Some users of TikTok are seeing a link to an outside website where they may buy coins to tip creators. It is intended for TikTok users to acquire coins through Apple’s in-app purchases. Additionally, a TechCrunch story claims that TikTok pays Apple a commission of 30% on each purchase.
Not everyone has the opportunity to buy coins via an external website. Screenshots of the new payment flow were submitted by TechCrunch tipster David Tesler, who noted that it was shown to an account that had previously made a sizable coin purchase. This could imply that TikTok is testing the feature right now on users who have already bought coins.
Lesler’s screenshots appear to indicate that TikTok is displaying a screen with the text “Try recharging on tiktok.com to avoid in-app service fees” and a “Try now” link. According to certain users, there is an additional notice on possible savings that says, “Try recharging on tiktok.com.” One pop-up that TechCrunch provided says, “You can save the service fee and get access to popular payment methods.”
Earlier in January of this year, Apple updated its App Store Guidelines to let developers to provide links to alternate payment methods within their programs. Nevertheless, if they are a part of the App Store Small Business program, the Cupertino business still demands that they pay a 12% commission; if not, they must pay a 27% commission.
Since TikTok is a large company, it is entitled to a 27% fee from purchases made outside of the company. This appears to be in opposition to TikTok’s intentions to provide users a 25% discount when they purchase coins online. A request for comment from TikTok was not immediately answered.
In the event that TikTok is really avoiding the commissions, Apple may decide to remove it from the App Store. A similar attempt was made by Fortnite, and the game is no longer accessible through the App Store.
