Route B — The reader / web-signup model | Faceless AI - Dataspheres AI

The cleanest 0% If no purchase ever happens inside the app, there is nothing for Apple to tax. This is how Netflix, Spotify, Kindle, and the like operate: ...

The cleanest 0% If no purchase ever happens inside the app, there is nothing for Apple to tax. This is how Netflix, Spotify, Kindle, and the like operate: you sign up and pay on their website, and the app is purely for consuming what you already bought. Apple formally calls these reader apps — apps whose main job is to let users access content or a subscription they acquired elsewhere (video, music, books, magazines, cloud storage, and similar). Two flavors Reader app with the External Link Account entitlement: you qualify as a reader app and Apple grants an entitlement to place a single link to your website for account management and sign-up. No in-app purchase required. Consumption-only app: the app simply has no purchase path at all. The user must already have an account. This is the strictest and safest interpretation, but it creates onboarding friction — a brand-new user who downloads your app hits a login wall with no obvious way to subscribe. The catch Historically you could not even tell users inside the app where to go — the anti-steering rules. The 2025 US ruling loosened in-app communication, and the reader-app entitlement permits a link, but the safest global posture is still: sell on the web, keep the app quiet about it, and drive signups through your own marketing. If your product genuinely fits the reader definition, this route gives you a durable 0% that does not depend on the Epic appeal. Educational material, not legal or tax advice. App-store rules and the underlying court cases are changing month to month in 2026 — always confirm the current terms in Apple's and Google's own developer documentation before you ship, and get professional advice for your jurisdiction.