iOS: In-App Purchases with user to user subscriptions?

Question

I'm developing an app that allows users to subscribe to each other's content via paid subscription. For example, user A can subscribe to user B's channel for $5/month and I take a small fee from the transaction (user B gets the remainder).

Apple policy states that all in-app digital purchases and subscriptions must be done with Apple In-App Purchase, but does this include digital user marketplaces? I'm in the middle of implementing Stripe but I'm not sure if this is allowed.

If I have to use the In-App Purchases, does this even support my model?

Thanks!

Answer 1

If you want to facilitate the transaction through your app, then yes, it needs to be done through an in-app purchase. You can use Stripe for users that subscribe on your website, but you can't direct users there to make a purchase from your app.

Apps that operate across multiple platforms may allow users to access content, subscriptions, or features they have acquired elsewhere, including consumable items in multi-platform games, provided those items are also available as in-app purchases within the app. You must not directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about other purchasing methods must not discourage use of in-app purchase.

With in-app purchases, you'll need to facilitate the payouts yourself. This could be difficult since you'll probably want to wait until Apple pays you before you distribute (usually 1+ month after purchase), and you'll have to track refunds and cancellations. If your app is available globally there's also the fact that you'll get paid out different $$ for the same subscription depending on the country it was purchased due to tax differences.

Also, since you can only be subscribed to a single product within a subscription group, you won't be able to have a user subscribe to channel A and channel B with 2 subscriptions.

Really, the best solution for this type of marketplace is to use something like Stripe Connect as you've figured out. However, you'll have to process this purchase outside of your app and not direct users there from within your app.

A solution to use in-app purchases could be to switch from a subscription to a consumable purchase to unlock content for a specific period and manage the expiration date yourself. This would allow a user to make multiple purchases to unlock multiple channels. The downside is that this won't auto-renew, which may mean less revenue for you. You'd still have to handle the payouts yourself, but it would be simpler to manage one-off purchases then dealing with all of the nuances of iOS subscriptions.