Apps like Netflix and Spotify can now add links in the iOS app that allow users to register, make payments and manage accounts on the company's website.
Previously, Apple had prohibited application developers from including any links to the account registration page. So for purchases made in the application, Apple will ask developers to use Apple's in-app payment system.
Here Apple takes a 30% cut of the subscription fee in one year and in the second year it drops to 15%. But now Apple has given permission to other app developers to link to the websites they manage.
Apple will update its App Store guidelines so that reader app developers can now request access to 'External Linked Account Ownership'.
The tech giant defines other apps or readers as apps that provide pre-purchased content or content subscriptions for digital magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music and video.
Apple first announced it would allow certain media services to add in-app links last year as part of a settlement with the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC).
While the changes are the result of a JFTC investigation, Apple will apply the new policy to all reader apps worldwide. Therefore, developers must request access to the External Link Account Rights program before they are allowed to add in-app links.
Until recently, the changes gave developers a way to avoid giving Apple a 15 to 30% discount. However, the company will still collect commissions for its own in-app purchases if the service offers them.
Recently Google also launched a pilot program to test a third-party billing system on Android that allows users to pay for services either through its own payment system or a developer.
One of the apps testing the feature, Spotify, will show Google customers and its own billing system side by side starting later this year. Google will still get a cut even if users opt for the service's own billing system, but that will be less than the 15 percent commission the tech giant typically collects for subscriptions.