American technology giant, Apple is very strict when it comes to its business and association with others. The company often prefers a closed system where everything its users do is within the Apple ecosystem. There is often significant restrictions when users attempt to collaborate with services outside the Apple ecosystem. For this reason, the company has had to face several lawsuits. In some regards, Apple is now technically and slowly loosening its grip and restrictions to its users. According to Steve Moser, Apple Pay in iOS 16 may soon support other browsers like Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox browsers.
Moser discovered the availability of Apple Pay in Edge and Chrome browsers in iOS 16 Developer Preview Beta 4. He shared a screenshot showing the checkout page on Edge browser with the “Continue with Apple Pay” option appearing. In iOS 15, users can only use Apple Pay in Apple’s own Safari browser. However, it now seems that the company will lift this restriction in iOS 16.
Some users on Reddit also did the same test with the Firefox browser which also supports Apple Pay. Moser also pointed out that Apple Pay did not lift restrictions in the latest macOS beta, possibly due to Apple’s requirements for the browser kernel. Google Chrome, Edge, and Firefox all use Safari’s rendering engine WebKit on iOS, but there are no restrictions on macOS.
Apple plans to launch Apple Pay ‘buy now, pay later service this year
According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, Apple is planning to make several improvements to Apple Fitness + and Apple Pay this year. The company is exploring its options and will provide a new grocery service that integrates with health apps.
Gizchina News of the week
In a recent issue of the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Gurman talks about his expectations for Apple’s new services this year. According to him, Apple is developing two financial-related services. One is a hardware subscription plan and a “buy now, pay later” service for Apple Pay transactions. Buy now, pay later, a service that allows customers to pay for purchases using Apple Pay in instalments, rivals existing services like Klarna. Klarna is the mainstream online payment for European merchants, similar to Chinese Alipay. The seller will receive Klarna’s payment in advance, and then Klarna and the buyer will make subsequent instalments.
Gurman previously revealed the report about Apple’s hardware subscription plan. This plan will allow customers to pay a monthly subscription fee and have access to iPhones, iPads and Macs during the subscription period. Apple aims to make the process of buying a hardware subscription comparable to buying iCloud storage or an Apple Music subscription. Also, it wants users to be able to subscribe to the hardware using their Apple ID and App Store account.
Apple’s biggest boost
Word has it that the hardware subscription program is Apple’s “biggest boost” to day-to-day sales. While the program has been in the works for several months, it’s now noticeably delayed as Apple is currently focusing on a “buy now, pay later” Apple Pay service. Gurman claims that Apple is working to get hardware subscriptions online by the end of 2022. However, this may delay until 2023 or it may even cancel the plan.
In addition, Apple plans to add new workout types to Apple Fitness+ with iOS 16 later this year. In addition to that Apple is already exploring a service “similar to US grocery delivery service Instacart, which works with health apps” integration of nutritional data. According to Gurman, this service may be difficult to achieve and “pretty low-profit margins”. He also added that he also expects a substantial upgrade to Apple TV+ this year. The expansion of Apple’s services has been the subject of speculation among some analysts, with Loup Ventures suggesting that Apple may offer “Podcasts+,” “Stocks+,” “Mail+,” and “Health+” in the future.
