Apple News is expanding its local news coverage to Charlotte, Miami and Washington, D.C. Local news coverage will give users access to numerous publications such as Axios Charlotte, the Charlotte Observer, Eater Miami, the Miami Herald, DCist, Washingtonian, the Washington Post and more. Each local news experience is curated by Apple News editors and features coverage […]
Apple updates its App Store Guidelines to permit developers to contact customers about other payment methods
Apple today introduced a new set of App Store Guidelines that include three key changes. One of the changes is the result of a previously announced settlement agreement with a class of U.S. app developers. It clarifies that developers are allowed to communicate with their customers about other payment methods available outside their app. Related […]
In hopes of App Store changes, Paddle develops an alternative to Apple’s payments system
Paddle, a solutions provider subscription-based businesses, is betting on a future where App Store developers are able to use third-party payment systems — and it wants to be among the first to market with an alternative once such a system is permitted. The company today announced a new in-app purchasing (IAP) system aimed at iOS […]
News aggregator SmartNews raises $230 million, valuing its business at $2 billion
SmartNews, a Tokyo-headquartered news aggregation website and app that’s grown in popularity despite hefty competition from built-in aggregators like Apple News, today announced it has closed on $230 million in Series F funding. The round brings SmartNews’ total raise to date to over $400 million and values the business at $2 billion — or as […]
Apple lowers commissions on in-app purchases for news publishers who participate in Apple News
Apple today is launching a new program that will allow subscription news organizations that participate in the Apple News app and meet certain requirements to lower their commission rate to 15% on qualifying in-app purchases taking place inside their apps on the App Store. Typically, Apple’s model for subscription-based apps involves a standard 30% commission […]
Spotify’s Podcasts Subscriptions service is now open to all U.S. creators
Spotify is today opening up access to Podcast Subscriptions to all podcast creators in the U.S., after first launching the service for testing with a smaller number of creators back in April. Through Spotify’s podcast creation tool Anchor, podcasters of all sizes will now able to mark select episodes as subscriber-only content, then publish them […]
Apple News partners with NBCUniversal to share exclusive Olympics content
Apple News on Monday announced a collaboration with NBCUniversal to develop exclusive daily recaps and audio briefings, event schedules and medal counts to help fans keep tabs on the games.