Apple settlement gives app developers a way to avoid its commission

Apple will allow developers to have customers pay them outside of their iPhone apps, following a legal settlement with a group of developers Thursday.

App makers can stop paying Apple a commission on their sales, which could appease developers and regulators concerned with the company’s control over mobile apps, including policies that force developers to pay Apple a cut of their sales.

The move will allow Apple to avoid an extended legal fight that would have targeted the iPhone App Store. Some major companies like Spotify already push customers to evade Apple’s commissions.

Developers may now tell customers via email and other channels about alternative payment methods, but developers are still banned from informing customers of other ways to pay via iPhone apps.

Read more from The New York Times.