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Use external-purchases to assess a US-only external checkout design for [app], verify current entitlement and commission terms before relying on them, and produce an implementation plan that preserves IAP and centralizes link-out analytics.
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[app]
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SKILL.md
name: external-purchasesdescription: US web checkout via the StoreKit External Purchase Link entitlement — currently 0% Apple commission (litigation ongoing), how to ship it safely, and how to architect for a commission flip so a future ruling is a config change, not a rewrite. Use when adding external purchase links, weighing web checkout vs IAP, or planning US-storefront pricing strategy.allowed-tools: [Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep]last_verified: 2026-07-16review_by: 2027-06-22
External Purchases (US Web Checkout)
On the US storefront, apps may link out to a web checkout for digital goods using the
StoreKit External Purchase Link entitlement — and as of mid-2026, court orders have Apple's
commission on those purchases at 0%, with the fee case still moving through district court.
This is the largest indie revenue unlock of the era, and it is reversible by a ruling — so the
engineering rule is: ship it now, architect it so a commission can be flipped on later.
Verify current state before relying on this: the entitlement terms, the commission rate, and
the litigation status have each changed more than once. Treat every number here as
"true as of 2026-07, re-check."
When This Skill Activates
"Add a web checkout / Stripe / external purchase link" for digital goods
Deciding IAP vs web checkout for a US-heavy revenue base
The store-growth audit flags P8.4
Reviewing an app whose external links might be non-compliant (wrong storefront, no entitlement)
The rules of the road
US storefront only — elsewhere Guideline 3.1.1 still applies (EU/JP/KR have separate
entitlements/terms; don't extrapolate from the US).
Entitlement required: com.apple.developer.storekit.external-purchase-link + matching
Info.plist declaration — a bare Link("Buy", …) without it is still a rejection (see
app-store/rejection-handler §3.1.1).
Present the link per the entitlement's UI terms (StoreKit's ExternalPurchaseLink /
disclosure sheet where required). Don't dark-pattern the IAP option away if you keep both.
Purchases made on the web are your customer relationship — payment processor, refunds,
taxes; Apple's merchant-of-record role no longer applies.
Architecture: the commission flip
Design so that a future "Apple takes N% of external purchases initiated in-app" ruling changes a
config value, not your codebase:
✅ Route every in-app-initiated web checkout through one link-out service that stamps the
session (source=app, timestamp, storefront) — web-organic checkouts stay unstamped. If a
commission returns, it applies to a knowable, logged subset.
✅ Keep a single CommissionPolicy (remote-configurable): rate, applies_to,
effective_date. Report/accrue against it from day one — at 0% it's just a counter.
✅ Log day-one analytics: link taps → checkout starts → completions, vs the IAP funnel. The
conversion drop through a web checkout (Apple's sheet, Safari hop, payment form) is real;
whether 0% beats IAP's frictionless 85–70% is an empirical per-app question.
❌ Scattering openURL("https://…/buy") calls through features — un-auditable, un-flippable.
❌ Ripping out StoreKit. Keep IAP as a fallback path (non-US storefronts still need it, and
some US users convert better in-sheet).
Decision sketch
Situation
Lean
Subscriptions, US-heavy, ARPU high enough to absorb processor fees + your own support
Web checkout for new subs; keep IAP for the rest of world
Impulse-priced consumables/unlocks
IAP — checkout friction eats more than 15–30% commission
Existing subscriber base on IAP
Don't force-migrate; offer web at renewal decision points
B2B/prosumer, invoicing needs
Web checkout regardless of commission math
Output Format
Status: entitlement present? · storefront scope correct (US-only gating)? ·
link-out service centralized? · CommissionPolicy flippable? · funnel analytics live?
Verdict + the one next step.