nostr:npub18m76awca3y37hkvuneavuw6pjj4525fw90necxmadrvjg0sdy6qsngq955 #apple #noonecares

Wesley Hilliard | Jun 26, 2023

Damus allows users to tip with Bitcoin

Damus has failed to comply with Apple's guidelines for in-app purchases and will be removed from the App Store, though the app's developers will contest this decision.

Damus is an app built on the Jack Dorsey-backed Nostr decentralized social platform. It has a feature called "zaps" that lets users provide tips in Bitcoin on posts they like.

This feature has sent up red flags in Apple's App Store review process, causing it to get rejected. Apple sees these tips as in-app purchases for digital content, which can only be covered by Apple's in-app purchase system.

Apple had given Damus 14 days to remove the feature, which it considers in violation of Guideline 3.1.1 - business payments. Damus responded by clarifying rules around the tipping system, saying no in-app content is unlocked by providing a tip, which didn't appease Apple.

"Looks like we are getting removed from the appstore even after updating our app to make it clear that no digital content is getting unlocked when users are tipped. Users are only ever tipped after posts are made, the idea that content is being sold is nonsense. We will be filing pic.twitter.com/Su945kE37v

— Damus (@damusapp) June 26, 2023"