In September 2020, Google first announced an in-app purchase policy. Under the policy, apps in Google Play have to use the Play’s billing system for in-app purchases of digital goods. The developers had to upgrade their respective apps to support the policy by March 31, 2022. As a result, shopping for eBooks will now become difficult. Specifically, the users of Barnes & Noble will find it hard to purchase an ebook from NOOK starting next week. Therefore, the company completely removed the ability to buy eBooks from NOOK, following Google Play’s policy.
On another note, users of the Audible app will also face difficulties while buying digital books. However, the company has only restricted the use of debit or credit cards to purchase books from the app. Consequently, a user can use Audible credits to buy ebooks from the app. Also, any payment for a membership subscription plan has to be done by Google Play’s billing system.
Moreover, although shopping for ebooks has now become difficult, Google has a new program in place, permitting developers to use their payment method. However, developers can only implement it after committing to bill through Google Play.
