Will Apple Ban Social Media App Damus?

Social media app Damus received a warning letter from Apple, stating the app would be removed from the Apple app store due to having tipping features to tip in Bitcoin. It has to comply with Apple's guidelines. People use the Damus app that runs on the Nostr platform.

Damus got approval on the Apple app store in January 2023. There is a Zaps feature in the app that allows users to tip others and content creators in BTC. They use the Lighting Network widget for making payments and people can use it to tip each other.

According to Apple, it violates their policy, and only in-app purchase features can be used. The Damus team clarifies that the app does not sell any goods or provide a feature to sell any digital goods. The tip button is there to give people options to make P2P transactions like Cash App or Venmo.

Tipping on social media becomes very popular these days. Using Bitcoin Lighting Network, people can use the tip feature easily to support others. It is a way to give feedback and engage with favorite personalities and content creators.

Tipping features on Twitter is okay on the Apple app store while it is not okay with Damus. Many people raise questions about this. It is as if one app can get benefits and another app will get punishment for doing the same thing.

It is not a surprise if you notice a double standard. Apple approved an app named Game of Birds in 2015 which provides tipping features in Bitcoin. Now it is a big problem and the way they act appears to be a threat to the social media app Damus.

According to Damus's tweet, they contacted to schedule a call with Apple to talk about this and discuss the role of Zaps in detail. Since the zap button on posts is considered to sell digital content, they may remove the button from the posts. But zaps on profiles are allowed, so it will be there.

Any platform that works on providing decentralized and censorship-resistant social media will face various challenges from the centralized entity. It is not in their best interest to facilitate decentralized apps. Through struggles and challenges, things will move forward.

If people realize what they have been missing on centralized platforms, they will start using decentralized platforms. We will have popular decentralized ecosystems to support decentralized apps. People will have easy access and we do not need to rely on centralized ecosystems.

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