Up to this point, Patreon\u2019s billing model has operated in a gray area, allowing its creators to charge fans outside the App Store without paying Apple\u2019s fees. When the issue first surfaced, TechCrunch<\/em> described<\/a> it as stemming from how paid content was accessed (only some creators offered content that could be consumed in-app). On Wednesday, a Patreon representative described the gray area as being \u201cbecause Apple\u2019s In-App Purchase system doesn\u2019t support some of Patreon\u2019s longstanding billing models.\u201d<\/p>\n But now Apple has reimposed its subscription mandate, eliminating the gray area. “We know that Apple is serious about enforcing this mandate,” Patreon wrote. “Late last year, they blocked a Patreon app update and made it clear that in order to remain in the App Store, we have to comply with their billing requirement. Because millions of fans use iOS as their primary way to access Patreon and connect with creators, having our app blocked \u2014 or not available in the App Store at all \u2014 isn’t an option.”<\/p>\n Patreon\u2019s “whiplash” description isn’t hyperbole. Apple first announced the mandate in 2024. At that time, the deadline<\/a> for all Patreon creators to make the switch was set to November 2025 \u2014 one that Patreon grudgingly accepted. But according to the company, Apple told it last May that the original 2025 deadline was no longer in effect. Now, it appears to have reversed that again.<\/p>\n If there’s a silver lining, TechCrunch<\/em> notes<\/a> that only 4 percent of Patreon creators are using the affected (legacy) billing models. And fans can still bypass Apple’s fees on iOS by joining via their iPhone’s web browser. Patreon has much more detail for creators in its announcement post<\/a>.<\/p>\n As for Apple, well, this familiar role<\/a> of “Big, Bad App Store Taxman” pales in comparison to some of its other recent headlines. For starters, there was its removal of the ICEBlock app<\/a> (and another that logged ICE arrest recordings<\/a>) in October. At least as concerning is an app category that the \u201cPrivacy is a human right\u201d<\/a> company won’t<\/em> remove. Grok, X and (reportedly) dozens of other apps<\/a> now allow iPhone owners to “digitally undress” real people<\/a>, including children. 28 advocacy groups even called on the company to remove them<\/a>, to no avail.<\/p>\n To top it all off, Tim Cook decided that Saturday \u2014 the day Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents \u2014 would be a good time to attend the screening of Melania<\/em><\/a> at the White House. He even posed for a selfie<\/a> with accused rapist Brett Ratner, the film\u2019s director.<\/p>\n Update, January 28, 2026, 5:22 PM ET:<\/strong> This story has been updated to clarify how the Patreon app operated in a gray area before Apple\u2019s changes.<\/p>\n This article originally appeared on Engadget at https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/big-tech\/patreon-creators-have-to-switch-to-subscription-billing-by-november-thanks-to-apple-203759852.html?src=rss<\/p> Please credit: OBA Blog<\/a> » Patreon creators have to switch to subscription billing by November, thanks to Apple<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Patreon creators will need to make some changes soon, thanks to Apple. On Wednesday, Patreon said Apple has renewed its requirement that all Patreon creators must move to subscription billing. The deadline to do so is November 1, 2026. Patreon’s blog post announcing the change made it clear that it had no other choice. “We strongly disagree with this decision,” the company wrote. “Creators need consistency and clarity in order to build healthy, long-term businesses. Instead, creators using legacy billing will now have to endure the whiplash of another policy reversal \u2014 the third such change from Apple in the past 18 months.” Up to this point, Patreon\u2019s billing model has operated in a gray area, allowing its creators to charge fans outside the App […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-share"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/obagg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/obagg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/obagg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obagg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obagg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/obagg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1066\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/obagg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obagg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obagg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"DAVOS,](\"https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/2026-01\/536d8711-5d36-42fa-8429-bd459832b212\")