Arizona Advances Bill That Will Let Developers Skirt Apple's In-App Purchase Rules

The Arizona House of Representatives today passed HB2005, a state bill that would provide developers with an alternative to Google and Apple's in-app purchase options by allowing developers to use their own payment solutions within apps.

app store blue banner
Last week, the Arizona House Committee advanced the bill, and now it has also been approved by the House of Representatives. It will next be heard by the Arizona Senate.


Apple and Google have been lobbying aggressively against the bill for weeks now because it would let developers use third-party payment options to avoid the 15 to 30 percent cut that Apple takes from app purchases an in-app payments.

In a hearing last week, Apple chief compliance officer Kyle Andeer called HB2005 a "government mandate that Apple give away the App Store."

"This would allow billion-dollar developers to take all of the app store's value for free, even if they're selling digital goods, even if they're making millions or billions of dollars doing it. The bill is a government mandate that Apple give away the app store."

Apple last month successfully fought back against a similar bill in North Dakota, which would have paved the way for third-party app store options.

Like the North Dakota bill, the Arizona bill was backed by the Coalition for App Fairness, a group that includes companies like Epic Games, Spotify, Basecamp, and Tile, all of whom have had significant issues with Apple's ‌App Store‌ rules. There's a similar bill in Minnesota that Apple is also battling against.

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Top Rated Comments

GizmoDVD Avatar
29 months ago
Apple should just not allow Developers in arizona. Easy solution!

I like how game consoles are excluded for no apparent reason.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Goodeye Avatar
29 months ago
I hate my state some times.

WAY more important things to be working on and dealing with in this state and they are worried about this crap.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BuffaloTF Avatar
29 months ago

Why would it hurt consumers? And of course it hurts developers they take 15- 30 % off of thin air because they say they “protect the store”
Sigh......

They don’t provide “nothing” for 15-30%. They provide payment processing, app review, certification, distribution (globally), tax payments (globally), tax documentation (globally), customer service support, advertising, API development, API services support...

The payment processing alone costs 25% in some countries in Asia and Latin America.

30% is a steal for what they get in return.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Freak Avatar
29 months ago
I hope it becomes obvious which developers choose to skirt app store rules so I know not to download apps from them ever.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G5isAlive Avatar
29 months ago

Apple should just not allow Developers in arizona. Easy solution!

I like how game consoles are excluded for no apparent reason.
The problem is this is going to be like incorporating a business in Delaware, the small sliver of land that somehow has 67% of all fortune 500 companies incorporating there, and countless smaller companies. Delaware has made itself a haven for anonymous incorporation, lower taxes, etc, so a number of companies regardless of where they do business, incorporate in Delaware. If this goes through you will see a lot of sham operations relocating in Arizona to take advantage of this loophole. This is politics at its worst.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GizmoDVD Avatar
29 months ago
Maybe Apple can just do away with IAP and make developers pay $10,000 a week?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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