Apple said on Wednesday that it will allow users to sign up or manage their accounts with external links in their apps, which allow them to access libraries of content on their phones.
Apple said the move applies to apps that provide magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music or video content. Some of the most popular apps on Apple's App Store are reader apps.
Apple did not allow app makers to direct users to sign up through a website. They were forced to use Apple's App Store payment system, which takes between 15% and 30% of sales. The new policy will allow these apps to sign up new customers directly in the app.
The change reflected in Apple's App Store guidelines will allow reader apps to handle their own customer management for users acquired through the app, a sticking point that app makers have complained about to regulators and courts around the world. Apple said the new policy is available around the world.
The rule does not apply to all apps. The majority of Apple's App Store revenue comes from games that offer in-app purchases.
Apple said in a post on its developer website that developers can submit a request form to Apple and that the App Review process would still approve updates to the app. The link needs to be formatted like a standard link and have the website's domain name appended to it.
For example, any app that qualifies can't offer in-app purchases, and the app can't offer real-time services with a person like tutoring or fitness training, which are still required to use App Store payments.
Apple said that apps that include digital content as a feature but focus on other uses, such as social networking, would not be eligible for the program.
Before the user leaves the app, Apple requires a popup that warns that the company is not responsible for the privacy or security of transactions made with this developer.
Apple's App Store rules have been under intense scrutiny from courts and lawmakers around the world.
In response, Apple has made several changes to its policies and created carve-outs and discounts for certain kinds of apps and app makers, but has not given ground on its core interest that it has the right to determine which software can operate on iPhones.
In a separate post on Wednesday, Apple said it had changed its policy in the Netherlands, where it had been fined 50 million euro for not complying with an order from the antitrust watchdog Authority for Consumers and Markets.
Apple's new policy does not require app makers in the Netherlands to submit an entirely different version.
As we have previously said, we disagree with the original order and are appealing it.
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