In June, Apple (AAPL) threatened to remove the Bitcoin-supported social media app, Damus of its App Store, which led to the rise of zapple payment. The reason behind this threat is Damus’s feature that allows users to tip bitcoin (BTC) in the app, which Apple considers equivalent to selling digital media.
Damus operates in the nostr protocola decentralized social networking platform popular among Bitcoin users due to its compatibility with Lightning Network payments.
The app launched earlier this year, but was at risk of being delisted on June 13 due to its “zap” feature, which allows users to send small amounts of bitcoin to tipping content creators, Similar to Twitter’s tipping feature.
Apple claimed that this violated their App Store Review Guidelines. damus developer casarin tried to find a compromise by removing the note zapping functionality while keeping the zapping buttons in the profiles, but Apple was not happy with the solution.
Despite efforts to address the issues, Apple rejected Damus’ submission, raising concerns about restricting Bitcoin adoption and hindering the development of a global payment protocol for the Internet, according to the former director. Twitter executive Jack Dorsey.
William Casarin de Damus removes Zap feature on posts, allowing user suggestions at the profile level
After a standoff, Damus creator William Casarin admitted that he removed the app’s ability to zap in posts or notes while also allowing users to tip each other at the profile level.
Although this commitment restricts zaps to profiles, some Damus supporters see the approval as a small victory.
“Damus v1.5 approved”, Casarín aware on the decentralized social networking app, Snort on Tuesday night. “Forward.”
Despite the limitation, one user expressed optimism about the concept of zaps, stating, “The most important thing is that the concept of zaps exists. It will revolutionize social media. Patience.”
William Casarin had previously expressed his frustration with Apple’s review process, but has since enhanced his app with new features following the engagement with the tech giant.
Zapple Pay emerges as an alternative to Damus, bypassing Apple’s restrictions
On July 6, a workaround emerged that may leave Apple powerless to stop it.
Independent Bitcoin Developers Ben Carman and Paul Miller created Zapple Pay, which allows users to send zaps via emojis in posts, bypassing Apple’s restrictions.
Zapple Pay works as a third-party service, raising questions about Apple’s ability to take action against it.
Carman and Miller, co-founders of Mutiny WalletThey have stated that they could replicate the same functionality on other social networks if Apple tries to block Zapple Pay.
Damus creator Casarin denies involvement in Zapple Pay, and Jack Dorsey publicly acknowledged the efforts of Zapple Pay developers.
