Filed under: iPhone, App Store
New terms and conditions for iTunes Store now online
items purchased IN an app (like new levels, dresses for virtual dogs, map packs, etc.) may not transfer among devices; our developer friends tell us they are absolutely supposed to transfer, but the effort to make that work is on the individual developer and Apple is simply doing a CYA here in the terms. If you have 2 iPhones with the same iTunes account, you can have the same app on both devices -- but you won't be able to reuse anything purchased in one instance of the app onto the other iPhone, nor are you guaranteed to be able to get all your In App content back if you replace your iPhone.
Also, note that "The Application Provider is solely responsible for In App Purchases." So if Stinky the chihuahua's sweater never makes it into your device, you'll need to hit up the guys who wrote the app for some refund or re-download or... something. It's not 100% clear on how all that will work, since we have yet to get our grubby, unwashed masses' mitts on the system, but Apple is reportedly leaning hard on developers to make sure In App purchasing works as advertised -- while making sure we all acknowledge who's responsible if something goes awry.
If you notice other changes in the T&C, leave 'em in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
duncan said 7:09PM on 6-17-2009
Sure seems to me that Apple can say what they want in a document but when it came to a judge in court, they have some responsbility here seeing as how they have taken a 30% cut of the sale. Taking some of the profit but none of the responsibility/accountability won't hold up in a court of law.
Bu*tholes!
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Maldaen said 9:38PM on 6-17-2009
The 30% cut can be legitimized as use of the iTunes Store billing system to provide these in-app purchases. Apple is providing a service to developers, which does not mean it holds liability for the content itself. Issues with billing and not receiving content, maybe, but not for the content itself.
Yuusharo said 7:42PM on 6-17-2009
This is one of the things that bothered me when I first heard about In App purchases. Yes, its a great outlet for developers if used appropriately, but as a consumer, what happens if I uninstall my application? All the files within its sandbox get deleted from the phone, and unless the developer provided some way to back it up outside of iTunes, guess what? Its gone.
My assumption was that you could simply reinstall an application and re-download the extra content, as you would now with apps you've purchased in the past. iTunes would recognize your request and say "You've downloaded this item before. Would you like to download it again for free?"
I'm going to be very reluctant about in-app purchases until I can be assured that I won't have to pay for something twice.
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Rick said 11:00PM on 6-18-2009
I am hoping that the Amazon Kindle for iPhone will allow in app purchases. This is the one company that I trust will honor the purchases made, even if I delete them from my iPhone or lose my phone.
rick.
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Justin said 9:59PM on 6-17-2009
Anyone else having trouble updating apps due to it asking for TOS agreement repeatedly? Namely Shazaam and AroundMe. I got AroundMe to work by removing and reinstalling but I don't want to lose my tagged songs in Shazaam so I don't want to delete it first.
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honz12 said 10:48AM on 6-18-2009
Yeah I'm getting that problem too with Shazam
Chris Thomson said 11:33PM on 6-17-2009
Here are a few things I found:
- You cannot manage iTunes Passes on iPhones or iPod touches.
- "To get the latest version of the iTunes software for your iPod touch or iPhone, you may need to download and install the latest version of the iPhone/iPod touch OS."
You can view the full diff of the conditions at TOSBack: http://www.tosback.org/diff.php?vid=489
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ascen said 3:23PM on 6-18-2009
im a bit disappointed, i submitted news concerning this feature a
month ago with screenshots and evidence of how apple is applying this
inconsistently to apps. for example: not rating a recently submitted
girl picture app, but rating a kiddie game submitted weeks before the
girl picture app.
fortunately engadget did take my tip and posted it.. http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/04/apple-iphone-3-0-rumor-roundup-part-ii-parental-controls-nike/
also, you havent mentioned that the terms and conditions explicitly
prohibit in game content paid for via micropayments from being
redownloaded (maybe even to the same phone, i cannot recall the exact
specifics). - i thought of submitting that news, but then, you
probably would have ignored that aswell...
heres another couple tips
the "more" button in the app store is not actually fixed, as in, one
day it was the standard "updates" button, then the next it was a
"more" button. the lastest beta of the os had this occur in the first
week of the month
this is in line with the the app store now being adaptable (maybe
through xml *shrug*) or possibly apple can update it invisibly and
independant from os updates. people will start to notice that the
main app store page will change too, rather than just having two
featured apps at the top and a list of apps.
the app store can now also display a terms and conditions page (it
looked pretty primitive in the beta) and make you confirm the new
conditions before you can do anything else.
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