Tesla App is accused of bypassing the internal purchase rules of Apple App Store.
CTOnews.com, July 12 (Xinhua)-- the Tesla app, which allows car owners to control and monitor their cars through their iPhone phones, includes a service called Advanced connection, which costs $9.99 a month (CTOnews.com Note: about 72 yuan) that allows car owners to unlock functions such as in-car navigation, video streaming, music playback, etc. However, according to the Gizmodo website, Tesla did not abide by the App Store rules of the Apple App Store and did not use Apple's in-app purchase system to collect the fee.
The rules of Apple's App Store are so strict that developers must use Apple's in-app purchase system to provide any features or services that need to be paid for. In this way, Apple can take a percentage of the commission on each transaction, ranging from 15% to 30%. Apple believes that this is to ensure the security and experience of users, as well as to maintain the fairness and health of the platform.
Tesla's "Advanced connection" service was originally used only on the in-car display, so there was no need to use Apple's in-app purchase system. However, Tesla later added a function called "viewing real-time cameras." As long as the vehicle turns on Sentinel mode, this feature allows the owner to check the surroundings of the vehicle when it is parked on the phone. The feature is obviously available on mobile phones and can only be used for a fee. According to Apple's rules, in this case, Tesla must provide Apple's in-app purchase option, but Tesla did not do so, but only used his own payment system.
This means that Tesla is bypassing Apple's app store rules, which Tesla's founder and CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly criticized as "like imposing a 30 per cent tax on the Internet". He also supports Epic Games, which has had a long legal dispute with Apple over app store rules.
It is worth noting, however, that all apps submitted to the Apple App Store go through a vetting process. It seems that Tesla did not use Apple's in-app purchase system and has not attracted Apple's attention. But now that the news has broken out, the situation may change.
