Anders BorumAug 18, 2024

Patreon being forced to pay creators through in-app purchase reminded me of a cool app I made two summers ago.

VPN clients on iOS lie on a spectrum between selling you out to data brokers or being expensive subscriptions.

Having prior experience with Digital Ocean my app made it easy to spin up droplets configured as VPNs ready to use from your iPhone.

It was so fast that droplets could be launched on-demand and shut down fast keeping costs extremely low.

Show threadAnders BorumAug 18, 2024

The app used OAuth to act on behalf of users on their personal Digital Ocean accounts making the cumbersome task of setting up a truly personal VPN available to the less technical or less patient user.

App Review rejected the app because I didn’t collect payment to Digital Ocean through in-app purchase.

Tried to appeal and spoke to Apple on the phone arguing that the payment was outside my control and that my app was a privacy boon but they did not care.

Show threadAnders Borum
Without a way to collect a revenue cut for Apple the app wasn’t allowed.
Aug 18, 2024 at 3:55pmIceCubesApp
Show threadPasi SaleniusAug 18, 2024
@palmin Sounds like it would’ve been a wonderful app!
Show threadMieszko ŚlusarczykAug 18, 2024
@palmin Have you thought about releasing it on @altstore ?
Show threadLeon OverweelAug 18, 2024
@spitfire @palmin @altstore +1, would love an app like this!
Show threadErlendAug 21, 2024
@leonoverweel @spitfire @palmin +2, this should go to @altstore!
Show threadNilsAug 18, 2024
@spitfire @palmin @altstore Yes please, also with support for Hetzner would be amazing!
Show threadJuan VillelaAug 18, 2024
@palmin This is great app idea. Maybe something like a tip jar would satiate Apple and keep the original idea mostly intact.
Show threadDanielAug 18, 2024
@palmin It doesn’t matter that it is privacy-conscious if it doesn’t produce revenue for Apple.
Show threadJosh RiversAug 18, 2024
@palmin Wow. You just flipped me on the App Store cut. Most of the time I have felt like there are frustrating but comprehensible trade offs. But “you didn’t collect payment on something you don’t offer”? Nope. Where do I send my letter to the DOJ?
Show threadsometimes ianAug 18, 2024
@palmin @eramdam one of my apps was rejected because it was possible to use an embedded web browser to navigate to any website where you could buy things outside of Apple's ecosystem.
Show threadAnders BorumAug 18, 2024
@ecn @eramdam 😑
Show threadCassandrichAug 19, 2024
@ecn @palmin @eramdam Embedded web browsers absolutely should be rejected because they're inherently phishing. They lead users to enter credentials for other sites/services into your app without realizing it's your app. Only an app clearly presented as a browser be allowed to act as a browser.
Show threadMikeKAug 18, 2024

@palmin

Can I get it on Android? Sounds good

Show threadTeknikal_DomainAug 19, 2024

@palmin

Even better: they kinda admit that. It's mandated in the App Store guidelines (iirc) that all purchaces made because of the app are handled through Apple's in-app payment API...

Yes, you can apply for an "entitlement" to not do that, but then you have to give them basically the same cut yourself.

Because subtlety is dead.

Show threadJenniferAug 19, 2024
@palmin I hope the DOJ breaks up their store. I'm so sick of monopolies screwing us.
Show threadLutin DiscretAug 22, 2024
@palmin genius. That's why we needed #DMA, @altstore (and FLOSS phones like @e_mydata)
Show threadJohn GruberAug 25, 2024
@palmin Have you ever written about this before (before this thread, that is)?
Show threadAnders BorumAug 25, 2024
@gruber I have not. When it happened it made me extremely disappointed and I decided to focus on other things.
Show threadJohn GruberAug 25, 2024
@palmin I can’t blame you. But man, this sounds like an almost perfect hypothetical example of the problems with Apple’s App Store rent demands, but it isn’t hypothetical. It’s actual.