近日，苹果再次修改了App Store审核规则，其中最受关注的，莫过于取消了第三方应用中个人对个人的打赏抽成，但同时也规定应用开发商不得从打赏中抽成。苹果此前修改了规定，将第三方应用中向原创作者的“打赏”划入“应用内购买”，要求第三方应用要么关闭“打赏”功能，要么向苹果提供30%的收入分成，引发了巨大的争议。

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这是一场苹果与微信之间的博弈

苹果抽取30%过路费 “打赏”大变革

一周下架4.5万，苹果手机中国应用大清洗！

还记得之前苹果和微信的博弈吗？

Thanks to China, Apple has updated its app store policy to allow tipping

QUARTZ

Apple has taken a tip from China's internet users.

A recent update to the company's global App Store Guidelines shows that Apple now permits users to send monetary tips to* one another—a practice which, while widespread in China, the company had previously shown ambivalence* towards. The revision shows that Apple is now accommodating* China's vast tip economy, and also highlights the power that Chinese social media giant Tencent has over China's internet culture, as well as the foreign companies that operate in the country.

*赞赏/打赏 send monetary tips to/ tip / give a monetary gift to

*ambivalence：the state of feeling of being ambivalent 矛盾心理

her ambivalence towards men

她对男性的矛盾心理

*accommodate：to give what is needed to someone 为…提供方便；对…予以照顾性考虑

The new policies fail to accommodate the disabled.

新政策没有照顾到残疾人的利益。

Earlier this year, bloggers and media outlets in China bemoaned* the news that WeChat, a chat app and popular publishing platform owned by Tencent, had removed a button inside its iOS app that let users tip bloggers using cash (as in real cash) stored inside WeChat's virtual wallet.

*bemoan：to complain or express sadness about something 抱怨；悲叹

Researchers at universities are always bemoaning their lack of funds.

大学里的研究人员总是抱怨资金不足。

The feature's removal likely stemmed from pressure by Apple. The company enforces a strict policy of taking a 30% cut on all transactions inside iOS apps whenever users buy virtual goods. It calls this practice “in-app purchases” (IAP). The widespread tipping inside WeChat, however, was occurring outside of Apple's control, and the company received no cut any time a user made a donation to the creator of a WeChat post they enjoyed.

In June, Apple updated its App Store Review Guidelines to suggest that tipping would not be allowed unless users paid tips using virtual currency—implying that Apple, somewhere along the way, would take its cut. The update read:

Apps may use in-app purchase currencies to enable customers to “tip” digital content providers in the app. Apps may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than IAP.

That line has stayed in the updated guidelines. However, the company added an additional section that permits tipping without Apple taking a fee. A new item in section 3.2.1 reads:

Apps may enable individual users to give a monetary gift to* another individual without using in-app purchase, provided that (a) the gift is a completely optional choice by the giver, and (b) 100% of the funds go to the receiver of the gift. However, a gift that is connected to or associated at any point in time with receiving digital content or services must use in-app purchase.

That suggests a tip given out of appreciation after reading a post will be allowed. Questions nevertheless remain: Will WeChat's tip button come back? Does “digital content” include a WeChat post or video? Neither Apple nor Tencent responded immediately to Quartz's questions about the policy change.

Regardless, China's online tipping economy—which occurs not just among WeChat writers, but in livestreaming apps and in restaurants, has placed Apple in a position where it has no choice but to take a side. Nearly 11% of WeChat users have used its tip feature, and among that group, 37% say they give five to 10 yuan ($0.72 to $1.45) every month. It's not uncommon for some popular WeChat bloggers to make hundreds of dollars a day just from tips.