TikTok may be routing around the App Store to save money on commissions. According to new findings, the ByteDance-owned social video app is showing some of its users a link to a website to buy the coins used to tip digital creators. Typically, these coins are purchased through an in-app purchase, which requires a 30% commission paid to Apple.
The feature may be hidden from most users, either by design or because it only appears to users of a certain group, such as testers or high cost. In any case, those who have access to the new option see a screen encouraging them to “recharge” — that is, buy more coins — through tiktok.com. Although these screenshots were discovered on the iOS app by TechCrunch tipster David Tesslerit’s unclear how many TikTok users see them or when or how they appear.
Tesler says the web purchase option was showing up in an account that had previously purchased a large amount of coins.
Image Credits: Screenshot from TikTok app
In some cases, users are shown a screen that includes a message such as “Try reloading tiktok.com to avoid in-app service fees” followed by a “Try now” link. Other times, you may see a pop-up saying “Try to recharge on tiktok.com” with another message about potential savings. This says, “You can save on the service fee and access popular payment methods” and is followed by a big, red “Try now” button or a less obvious option that says “Don’t show again.”
Image Credits: Screenshot from TikTok app
Users who follow the provided link are taken to the site for buying coins: tiktok.com/coin. From this web view, they can pay using a variety of methods, including Apple Pay or debit or credit cards. The site reminds users that purchases made directly with TikTok will save them about 25% “with a lower third-party service fee.”
Online, users can purchase coin packs ranging from 70 coins to 17,500 coins or even enter a custom (higher) amount. Within the app, however, coin packs are available starting from 20 coins to 16,500 with no option for a custom amount.
Image Credits: Screenshot from TikTok app
This could indicate that TikTok is showing the web links only to those users who usually buy larger coin packs at once.
While Apple began allowing select app developers to add links to their websites from within the app in 2022, the use case was limited. The only apps that qualify to offer these lines for “account management” are what Apple calls “reader” apps — or those apps that provide access to paid digital content as their primary functionality. (Think: Netflix, not Facebook.) Additionally, apps that choose to use External Link Entitlement cannot offer in-app purchases through the App Store. It’s an either/or situation.
Standard IAP flow. Image Credits: Screenshot from the TikTok iOS app
Since TikTok also offers most of its users the option to purchase via in-app purchases, it appears that it does not comply with the Right to External Link rules, even if it had been granted the exemption (which would be strange.)
TikTok and Apple have not returned requests for comment at this time. TikTok Help documentation about the coins it says that they are available for purchase and recharge through the App Store and Google Play on mobile devices.
Tessler famous that when Fortnite introduced an option that guided users around Apple’s in-app purchases, Apple banned the app from the App Store. It’s unclear what, if any, action Apple will take against TikTok now, given the current politics surrounding the Beijing-based app.
The current fate of TikTok in the US is uncertain, as the bill to ban the app has now been signed into law by President Biden. But the company said it plans to fight the ban in court, as it did before President Trump. Biden had initially put the effort to ban the app on hold until a new bipartisan bill passed both the House and Senate.
