On Friday, the world wide web erupted in a little way to master that Apple had efficiently pressured WordPress to monetize its cost-free app — forcing it to sell quality designs and tailor made domain names seemingly just so that Apple could get its classic 30 p.c cut.

But a single afternoon and night of shock and outrage later, Apple is backing off. The corporation is issuing a rare on-the-file apology, and it says that WordPress will no more time have to insert in-application purchases now that all is said and done.

Here’s Apple’s whole statement:

We think the concern with the WordPress app has been solved. Because the developer eradicated the screen of their provider payment solutions from the app, it is now a absolutely free stand-by itself application and does not have to provide in-app purchases. We have educated the developer and apologize for any confusion that we have induced.

You’ll discover that Apple is positioning this as the developer — WordPress — acquiring accomplished the right matter and eradicated the “display of their service payment selections from the application,” and to my knowledge that is technically accurate. But as far as I’m knowledgeable, that didn’t occur today: it transpired weeks or months back.

When as of yesterday, the WordPress app didn’t offer a single issue and did not so substantially as point out a paid “Wordpress.com” plan except you adopted an unlikely workaround, I was in a position to track down a fellow journalist this weekend who experienced a a lot more mature model of the application, 1 with a dedicated “Plans” tab that stated some of the unique programs offered to quality prospects:

That stated, my resource instructed me there was no potential to purchase any of those people ideas — and I can validate the complete “Plans” part experienced already been removed by the time WordPress developer Matt Mullenwag instructed us Apple had properly compelled him to incorporate Apple’s in-application purchases (IAP). (At first, he’d reported Apple locked him out of updating the application except he additional Apple IAP within just 30 times.)

What’s more, Mullenwag advised us that he experienced earlier supplied to strip other mentions of the compensated strategies out of the application (even workarounds like when a user views a preview of their possess WordPress webpage and then navigates to WordPress.com), only to have individuals solutions rejected by Apple.

So, to the most effective of my knowledge, this isn’t WordPress caving however yet again. Apple merely appears to have determined that striving to extract its minimize from a no cost app — by forcing in-application buys — isn’t a hill worthy of dying on these days.