Commission loophole risk

Unlike developers of apps on phones, it seems that Garmin watch app dev's are in the privileged position of not having to pay a commission to anyone other than their payment platform for monetised watch apps.

And this is despite the fact that the apps depend to one extent or another on Garmin GCM running on their iOS or Android phone.

If Garmin monetised one of their own watch apps without entering into a commission arrangement with Apple and Google, I'm pretty sure GCM would be black-listed with serious consequences to our projects.

How long it will be before Apple and Google close the door on this loophole and should I assess this as a serious risk before moving my app to a payment model?

Travis.ConnectIQ over 5 years ago

Your fear is that Apple/Google are going to start wanting their cut of the revenue from sales of your apps?

Alan.raceQs over 5 years ago in reply to Travis.ConnectIQ

I think it's a little more complicated than that. As a past iOS/Apple Watch and Android developer, my developer contracts put some very stringent conditions on the way the apps can be used to generate revenue. I assume Garmin has entered into such contracts for GCM for iOS and Android.

We developers only have a contract with Garmin, not Google or Apple. If they want to start collecting commission, they have to deal with Garmin, and then Garmin is going to have to deal with us.

That's what I mean about complicated.

Travis.ConnectIQ over 5 years ago in reply to Alan.raceQs

First off, I am not a lawyer. The following is not legal advice.

A Garmin device uses the GCM app as a proxy for data that is available on the internet. It is essentially a web browser for the device (Garmin Connect Mobile is to a Garmin wearable what Google Chrome on iOS is to a human). Neither app store attempts to monetize the content available via a web browser, so I'd be surprised if they'd try to do so here.

Additionally, I'm fairly certain that Apple only cares about in-app purchases made from apps running on their devices. GCM doesn't itself provide any purchasing abilities, and services/content that we're talking about are consumed on a Garmin device. Section 3.1.5(a) of the App Store Review Guidelines seems to be relevant:

3.1.5(a) Goods and Services Outside of the App: If your app enables people to purchase goods or services that will be consumed outside of the app, you must use purchase methods other than in-app purchase to collect those payments, such as Apple Pay or traditional credit card entry.

In this case GCM is the App, there is an additional layer of indirection (the ConnectIQ app itself) and the goods/services are being consumed outside of the App (on a Garmin device).

I don't really know anything about Google's terms of service, but I'm betting they are essentially the same in this respect.

Alan.raceQs over 5 years ago in reply to Travis.ConnectIQ

Yes, I agree, a browser clearly falls into the 3.5.1 category because the eBay shoes I buy via the browser are clearly consumed outside the browser.

I am concerned that the subscription you buy for my watch app can only be consumed with the watch connected to GCM and therefore may be interpreted as running as a feature of GCM according to 3.1.1.

The "loophole" of my post's title refers to the subject of the paragraph 3.1.1: "you", i.e. Garmin, not me the developer.

Travis.ConnectIQ over 5 years ago in reply to Alan.raceQs

Garmin doesn't provide a way to unlock features or functionality within GCM. GCM does not include its own mechanism to unlock content or functionality, and it does not direct customers to use any purchasing mechanisms. So as far as I can tell, 3.1.1 p1 does not apply.

Again, I'm not a lawyer..