Engadget - Apple tests App Store discounts

It's Monday, December 18, 2023.

Apple says it’s testing a new App Store feature called contingent pricing to lure customers into cheaper subscriptions based on their other purchases. This contingent pricing model will let developers offer discounts to customers who already have subscriptions to other services, be it those developers’ own apps or connected partner apps.

According to 9to5Mac, Apple says these bundled discounts will be highly visible to customers both on the App Store and “in off-platform marketing channels” — so elsewhere too. It’s starting with a select group of participants before rolling out to more developers “in the coming months.”

It’s been a year of increased scrutiny into Apple’s App Store and how it handles in-app purchases. Just this fall, Apple asked the Supreme Court to reverse the previous ruling that required it to allow developers to use outside payment systems, circumventing Apple’s 30 percent transaction fee. This is a way, of sorts, to get back in developers’ good graces.

— Mat Smith

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Nio

Chinese manufacturer Nio is about to start selling an EV with a “semi-solid state” 150kWh battery (140kWh usable). That’s the biggest battery of any passenger EV so far. Nio CEO William Li drove a prototype version of the ET7 1,044km (650 miles) in 14 hours, a distance surpassing many gas-powered vehicles. The ET7’s 150kWh battery will only be available on a lease separate from the car, much as we’ve seen with some cars sold in Europe. We’re unlikely to see this specific battery pack in the US, however. With the Biden administration’s latest rules, some US cars, like Tesla’s Model 3 Long Range, that use specific Chinese battery components will no longer receive the full $7,500 tax credit.

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