NFTs are coming to the App Store in a new way.
In an update (opens in new tab) on the Apple Developer website, the company announced some updates to its App Store Review Guidelines. In addition to supporting features announced earlier today with all of Apple’s new software versions, the company has also revealed that the App Store will now support the in-app purchase of NFTs.
The company states that “apps may use in-app purchase to sell and sell services related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as minting, listing, and transferring.” You can read about all of the updates to the review guidelines below:
- Revised in Before You Submit: “Provide App Review with full access to your app. If your app includes account-based features, provide either an active demo account or fully-featured demo mode, plus any other hardware or resources that might be needed to review your app (e.g. login credentials or a sample QR code).”
- Revised 1.1.4: “This includes ‘hookup’ apps and other apps that may include pornography or be used to facilitate prostitution, or human trafficking and exploitation.”
- Added 1.1.7: “Harmful concepts which capitalize or seek to profit on recent or current events, such as violent conflicts, terrorist attacks, and epidemics.”
- Added to 2.1: “If you are unable to provide a demo account due to legal or security obligations, you may include a built-in demo mode in lieu of a demo account with prior approval by Apple. Ensure the demo mode exhibits your app’s full features and functionality.”
- Added 2.5.17: “Apps that support Matter must use Apple’s support framework for Matter to initiate pairing. In addition, if you choose to use any Matter software component in your app other than the Matter SDK provided by Apple, the software component must be certified by the Connectivity Standards Alliance for the platform it runs on.”
- Moved language from 3.1.7 to 2.5.18: “Display advertising should be limited to your main app binary, and should not be included in extensions, App Clips, widgets, notifications, keyboards, watchOS apps, etc. Ads displayed in an app must be appropriate for the app’s age rating, allow the user to see all information used to target them for that ad (without requiring the user to leave the app), and may not engage in targeted or behavioral advertising based on sensitive user data such as health/medical data (e.g. from the HealthKit APIs), school and classroom data (e.g. from ClassKit), or from kids (e.g. from apps in the Kids Category), etc. Interstitial ads or ads that interrupt or block the user experience must clearly indicate that they are an ad, must not manipulate or trick users into tapping into them, and must provide easily accessible and visible close/skip buttons large enough for people to easily dismiss the ad.”
- Revised 3.1.1: “Apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency wallets, etc.”
- Added to 3.1.1: “Apps may use in-app purchase to sell and sell services related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as minting, listing, and transferring. Apps may allow users to view their own NFTs, provided that NFT ownership does not unlock features or functionality within the app. Apps may allow users to browse NFT collections owned by others, provided that the apps may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase.”
- Added 3.1.3(g): “Advertising Management Apps: Apps for the sole purpose of allowing advertisers (persons or companies that advertise a product, service, or event) to purchase and manage advertising campaigns across media types (television, outdoor, websites, apps, etc.) do not need to use in-app purchase. These apps are intended for campaign management purposes and do not display the advertisements themselves. Digital purchases for content that is experienced or consumed in an app, including buying advertisements to display in the same app (such as sales of “boosts” for posts in a social media app) must use in-app purchase.”
- Revised 3.1.5(iii): “Exchanges: Apps may facilitate transactions or transmissions of cryptocurrency on an approved exchange, provided they are offered only in countries or regions where the app has appropriate licensing and permissions to provide a cryptocurrency exchange.”
- Revised 5.2.5: “Music from iTunes and Apple Music previews may not be used for their entertainment value (e.g. as the background music to a photo collage or the soundtrack to a game) or in any other unauthorized manner. If you provide music previews from iTunes or Apple Music, you must display a link to the corresponding music in iTunes or Apple Music.”
Today’s update supports features in iOS 16.1 and more
Today’s update to the App Store Review Guidelines comes as Apple has released a slew of new software versions to the public.
Earlier today, the company released iOS 16.1, iPad OS 16.1, macOS Ventura, tvOS 16.1, and watchOS 9.1. the latest generation of Apple software brings with it a number of new features including Stage Manager, Live Activities, iCloud Shared Photo Library, and more.
You can download all of the new versions of the software on compatible devices now.