We end the week with a round-up of several small but nonetheless important stories. The biggest of those relates to the recent legal developments in the Epic Games and Apple case. The US courts have ruled that Apple must allow apps to link to external payment sites outside of the US App Store. Apple is appealing the decision, which would stop them from slicing off a 27 percent commission on purchases made through apps from the App Store, but in the meantime, they are having to comply.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
iOS Apps Loosen Payment Restrictions
Companies are trying to figure out what it means for the way they do business. Spotify is linking to external pricing and payments. But the biggest news is from Amazon. Its iOS Kindle app now allows purchases with a “get book” button. This will make it much easier for people who read on their iPhones to buy books on the go if something takes their fancy.
The other app change of interest following this decision is Patreon. It will now be possible to make payments online through the iOS Patreon app. Patreon believes this will also mean that creators no longer have to comply with a November 2025 deadline from Apple requiring them to move to in-app subscriptions.
Substack, meanwhile, continues to make changes. Its latest roll-out is an audio-only livestream facility, meaning you can recite poetry or hold a reading event live even if you are camera shy.
EU Publishers Address AI Transparency
There is, of course, a little AI news—but only an endnote this week. The Federation of European Publishers has issued a new document that is helpfully titled “A Call for Transparency Regarding AI-Generated Books.” (Full marks to them for following the EU’s Accessibility Act in its call for descriptively useful headings.)
Interestingly, it does exactly what the title suggests. But it makes two further and very interesting calls. One is around the allocation of public funding that is designed to benefit culture and the arts, and seeks to ensure that this lines the pockets of artists, not coders or tech companies. The second is a call for greater critical education so that people are more aware of scams such as fake AI biographies.
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