• by Ray Schultz , October 28, 2021

Apple, seen by many observers as hostile to email given the launch of its Mail Privacy Protection in September, has made one pro-email gesture: It will now allow app developers selling in its App Store to send emails to their customers.

Previously, this was prohibited. But Apple has deleted the following paragraph from its terms and conditions: 

“Developers cannot use information obtained within the app to target individual users outside of the app to use purchasing methods other than in-app purchase (such as sending an individual user an email about other purchasing methods after that individual signs up for an account within the app).” 

Instead, Apple has added this paragraph:  

“Apps may request basic contact information (such as name and email address) so long as the request is optional for the user, features and services are not conditional on providing the information, and it complies with all other provisions of these guidelines, including limitations on collecting information from kids.”

Apple rewrote its rules to settle a $100 million lawsuit with developers. As part of the deal, app developers may now inform users outside of the app about cheaper purchase methods than in-app payments, Market Research Telecast, which first covered the story, writes. 

But there are certain rules that pertain to apps. For example, the new contract specifies: “All event metadata must be accurate and pertain to the event itself, rather than the app more generally. Events must happen at the times and dates you select in App Store Connect, including across multiple storefronts.”