According to 9to5Mac, Netflix has started redirecting iPhone and iPad users to an additional website where they can sign up for the service. Just a few months ago, Apple began allowing “reader” apps like Netflix and Spotify, which give users access to digital material, to link out to account creation pages on their websites.
Since about 2018, Netflix didn’t offer a signup link for external users or even let consumers know where to join up in the iPhone and iPad apps. Instead, users had to use their web or mobile device to find Netflix’s website and sign up for the service there. Before this utilizing the app was done to abide by Apple’s rules, which restricted developers from providing connections to external sign-up pages and made it impossible for apps to earn commissions on in-app sales of up to roughly 30%. The configuration made it difficult for new customers who believed they could register for Netflix via the app.
Users who opt to ignore the warning are redirected to Netflix’s website’s account sign-up page, where they may enter their payment details and select a subscription plan. Users still cannot access Netflix’s signup page from its iPhone or iPad app, according to the company’s help page as of right now.
Apple still has a restrictive set of rules that developers must adhere to, such as not including any cost information with a link to external sign-up pages, even if it has started to loosen some of its standards for reader apps. To obtain approval to include the external connection in their software, developers must also submit an “entitlement.”
