On Thursday, Apple announced the creation of a new API called the Advanced Commerce API to support more in-app purchase formats, such as subscriptions and content apps. The company added that it is not changing its fee structure to support these use cases.
“Every year, the App Store facilitates billions of transactions, helping developers grow their businesses and deliver a world-class customer experience. To further support developers’ evolving business models, such as extremely large content catalogs, creator opportunities, and subscriptions with additional applications, we are introducing the Advanced Commerce API,” the company said in a statement.
In the accompanying document, Apple expanded on the use cases and the eligibility of applications and developers to apply for this program, dividing them into three broad categories. Apple stated that the first use case is apps that have a large library of one-time purchases with frequent updates, such as audiobooks or courses; the second use case is apps that add copyrighted content, where users can purchase access to this content as a one-time or renewable subscription; and the third use case is users who purchase add-ons as part of a subscription, such as additional channels, sports or regional content sold as a renewable subscription.
Last year, Apple asked the Patreon platform to switch to the App Store billing system for copyrighted content, otherwise they risk being removed. In response, the company said it would begin a slow migration to Apple’s payment system for its iOS app and complete the process by November 2025. Apple’s decision to debut the new API may be related to the need to support use cases such as Patreon.
After the EU forced Apple to allow alternative payment processing and third-party app stores on the platform, the company is trying to create more benefits for developers to stay in the Apple ecosystem. The company has started to allow emulators of retro games worldwide. In addition, it launched an opportunity for developers to offer discounts to customers with expired subscriptions.
