As the June 30 deadline approaches for developers to get on board with Apple’s new subscription policies, Hulu appears to be the first to deal with the problem in the simplest of ways -- by simply removing a link to their website from the iOS app.
AllThingsD is reporting that Hulu, LLC has addressed the looming June 30 deadline to get on board with Apple’s new subscription policies by doing almost nothing. On Friday, the company pushed out version 2.3.2 of their universal Hulu Plus app with the vague release note “Compliance with new rules for subscription-based apps.” We weren’t exactly sure what the company had done to comply since there were no visible changes -- that is, unless you log out.
According to AllThingsD, the only change with Hulu Plus 2.3.2 is the removal of a small text link that used to appear at the bottom of the login screen for the app. The line of text read “Not a Hulu Plus subscriber? Visit hulu.com/plus to learn more and sign up.” Rather than be forced to give 30 percent of their iOS revenue to Apple, the company has circumvented the problem by simply removing the external link entirely. Problem solved!
“Easy, right? All Hulu had to do was strip out the link that sent potential subscribers to its Web site, because Apple’s new rule will ban ‘apps that link to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app,’” reports Peter Kafka.
Of course, on the downside, the free Hulu Plus app is no longer a free advertising method for the company -- rather than offer some free content with a link to sign up from within the app, the iOS version will now simply be a portal for those willing to pay the $7.99 per month.
Kafka predicts that other media companies will follow suit in the next 10 days, including Netflix and Rhapsody, by eliminating any external links to subscribe to these services out of the app. But the problem could prove thornier for Amazon, whose iOS Kindle app has always required a buy button which leads to Mobile Safari for actually purchasing a new ebook.
At any rate, it should be an interesting 10 days to see how different developers tackle Apple’s thorny subscription issues -- and what kinds of complications they introduce to the end user.
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(Image courtesy of AllThingsD)
