The new App Store guidelines are in place, and the potential for getting scammed is at an all-time high.
Don’t Risk Your Baking Details Just to Save a Couple of Bucks, Stick with the Tried and Tested Apple Payment System
According to the new App Store guidelines, developers can now bypass the App Store payment system and commission to an external website of their own.
When you tap on a link that takes you to an external website, the app won’t even tell you where you’re going and what the potential risks are. Again, part of the new guidelines.
While this may sound like a huge convenience for developers, the potential for getting scammed is high for the user.
See, the thing is, you are giving your credit card details to a developer whose background and intentions can’t be judged at all. Once you hand over your card details, you can be billed in a shady manner too.
Apple’s own system ensures that everything is as transparent as possible. You can check which subscriptions you are subscribed to and you can cancel them right from your Apple Account.
While a lot of developers see this as a great opportunity to increase their profits, but some will exploit it in the worst-possible way.
You can easily be led to a dummy website that poses as a place to subscribe to a service that does nothing but lift your personal details.
I’m not going to sugarcoat this and say ‘be careful.’ I’ll say spend that extra couple of dollars and stick with Apple’s payment system instead. It’s safe, it’s secure, and it’s trustworthy.
I am 100% certain I can end up saving a lot of money if I sign up for services outside the App Store, but I can’t hand over my card details to someone I don’t know at all.
Nor should you.
Even if you’re using Android and a developer asks you to use an external payment process, just avoid it completely. It’s not worth it at all.
