Unlike Fortnite, the app never had any in-app purchase whatsoever.
It wasn't a situation like what is going on between Apple and Epic right now, he insists. Up until that point, the app was completely free. That shakedown came in 2018, according to Yen. then as any good Mafia extortion goes, they come to shake you down for some money.' as you start getting significant uptake in uploads and downloads. 'For the first two years we were in the App Store, that was fine, no issues there. 'There's a lot of fear in the space right now people are completely petrified to say anything,' Yen told The Verge on Thursday. Not only did a former App Store exec accuse the company of using its rules as 'weapons' against competitors, but a developer also claims that it was forced to add in-app purchases to its app when it had been free for years.Īndy Yen, CEO of ProtonMail says that his company is not the only one to suffer Apple's 'strong-armed' tactics, but others have been afraid to speak out about it. This week the stove got turned up another notch. It also claims that when it tried to inform its customers of the sudden change, Apple blocked it from posting app updates and threatened to remove it from the store.Īpple has been facing a lot of heat lately regarding its walled garden policies.
Why it matters: Encrypted email provider ProtonMail says that Apple forced it to monetize its app, which was on the App Store for more than two years without in-app purchases.
