Manzana has always exercised tight control over its ecosystem, especially in terms of what can be there and how its own app store can operate: App store. The bitten apple company’s draconian terms have burned various companies, including Spotify and Epic Games, which appear to have merged Tick ​​Tocka short video social network owned by ByteDance.

According to some screenshots shared by TechCrunch media, TikTok has implemented mechanisms in its iOS app to bypass the 30% commission that Apple charges for in-app purchases. It goes without saying that at this point there are many who complain that said commission is abusive, and that’s when it’s not said that it shouldn’t exist in in-app purchases and that it should be limited to transactions that are done directly through the App Store.

The beginning of the mechanism of payments on TikTok, which skip the Apple commission, is hidden only in the application shown to certain user profiles such as testers and high spenders. Users who see these options will see a screen prompting them to top up, which here means buying more coins from the social network via the tiktok.com/coin website.

David Tesler, a TechCrunch whistleblower who posted images of TikTok payments that skip Apple’s commissions, says that the option to purchase via the web was shown to an account that had previously purchased a large amount of the social network’s coins. In some cases, users will see a screen with a message such as “Try reloading on tiktok.com to avoid in-app service charges” followed by a “Try now” link. Other times, a pop-up window may appear that says “Try reloading on tiktok.com” with another message about potential savings.

Using the web to circumvent Apple’s restrictions is nothing new in itself, as the apple-bitten giant can’t control the medium beyond the services and websites it owns. To encourage direct purchase through its website, TikTok’s website says that transacting through them will allow users to save 25% thanks to a “lower third-party service fee”.

In 2022, Apple introduced some modifications that allow those responsible for applications to add links to their website, but this option is limited to specific applications and does not allow the establishment of an external sales channel if it is also sold through the App Store. . With this on the table, TikTok would violate the terms of the App Store, at least in the United States, because it offers in-app purchases and through a link to its website. It’s possible that Apple granted an exception, but that would be strange given how it works.

We will see how the story ends, because in reality everything may be fine between TikTok and Apple, but what TechCrunch revealed shows a violation of the conditions under which the ecosystem of the bitten apple giant works.

The situation in the European Union is very different thanks to DMA, and everything seems to indicate that Apple will have to back down when it comes to opening up its ecosystem and allowing competition from other services within iOS (this does not happen in macOS, because it is a more “open” system).