Apple clarifies details on Video Partner Program for developers

Apple has specified what it requires from video player app developers to qualify for a lower commission percentage, under the Apple Video Partner Program.

In a new set of guidelines published on Thursday, Apple says that a program since 2016 has "enabled premium subscription video providers to participate in a new TV watching experience on the Apple TV app, helping customers discover the world's best premium video content in one app, across all their devices."

The program has a series of requirements, that, if followed, allow vendors to pay 15% commission versus 30% on customers who sign up using Apple's in-app purchase systems. Those same requirements also allow customers who subscribe using your payment method outside of the app to use that payment method for additional video transactions within the app.

Requirements for the Apple Video Partner Program include

• Support for both iOS and tvOS
• Support for Live Tune-In for live content
• Integrate with Universal Search, Siri, and the Apple TV app
• Support for AirPlay
• Support for in-app purchases
• Use of single sign-on or zero sign-on if content can be authenticated with pay tv credentials

Apple requires that the primary function of the app must be to "deliver your own subscription service for premium video entertainment content."

As of fall 2020, over 130 premium subscription video entertainment providers around the world have signed on to participate in this program, such as Amazon Prime Video, Binge, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Claro, C More, DAZN, Disney+, Globo, HBO Max, Joyn, Molotov, MUBI, myCanal, STARZ, and Viaplay.

The program is currently available to Apple Developer Program members based in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The parameters for the program were published alongside a host of other data gleaned from the App Store. It was also published on the same day that a series of app developers banded together to form and launch the Coalition for App Fairness, to "advocate for freedom of choice and fair competition across the app ecosystem."