Today Apple has updated their License Agreement with all developers. Comparing it with the previous agreement, this is making way for In-App purchases from free apps.

In-App Purchases from Free Apps

Today Apple has circulated an email to its developers stating the following:

In App Purchase is being rapidly adopted by developers in their paid apps. Now you can use In App Purchase in your free apps to sell content, subscriptions, and digital services.

You can also simplify your development by creating a single version of your app that uses In App Purchase to unlock additional functionality, eliminating the need to create Lite versions of your app. Using In App Purchase in your app can also help combat some of the problems of software piracy by allowing you to verify In App Purchases.

The updated license agreement make many small changes throughout the document, largely removing the term “Paid Application” and instead making no distinction between “Paid Applications” and other applications. Previously the term “Paid Application” was only used in the context of In-App Purchases.

Still no VoIP

On the 6th Oct, AT&T announced that it was allowing VoIP apps (such as Skype) make calls over its 3G network. Previously Apple rejected any apps attempting to do this, and required developers to check that Wi-Fi was available before making any VoIP calls.

Now would seem to be the time to update the license agreement. However, in the new license agreement section 3.3.20 remains the same, stating that apps “may not have Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) functionality using the cellular network”. This may be disappointing for some developers, but perhaps carriers other than AT&T do not want to carry VoIP over their cellular network? If this is the case, I wonder will Skype have to decide which carrier the device is on before making calls?