Bitcoin-Friendly App Damus Avoids Apple Deplatforming After 2-Week Battle Over 'Zaps' Tipping

Bitcoin-friendly social media app Damus received approval to remain in the Apple App Store on Wednesday, after a two-week battle that started on June 13 when the tech giant threatened to eject it from the App Store for violating the company’s in-app purchase guidelines by allowing tips or “zaps” on content paid for with bitcoin (BTC) instead of Apple Pay.

Had to remove the tip button to stay on the app store. I will still build damus on iOS as a vanilla nostr client, but it you want to zap posts, apple says nah. https://t.co/6r04I2T7Av

— William Casarin 🇨🇦⚡️ (@jb55) June 28, 2023

The new version of Damus will no longer have zaps on posts – a configuration Apple reportedly considers equivalent to selling digital content – but will still allow users to send zaps to each other at the profile level.

Apple has come under fire from the Bitcoin community – among them former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey – with complaints that it’s impeding bitcoin adoption by imposing overly rigid guidelines when it comes to bitcoin-friendly applications on the App Store. The tech giant told CoinDesk it “reviews all apps against the same set of guidelines.”

Read more: Jack Dorsey Questions Apple's Tim Cook Over Bitcoin Support as Damus Deplatforming Looms

Some Damus supporters considered the approval a small win despite the compromise to restrict zaps to profiles.

“The most important thing is that the concept of zaps exists,” one user tweeted. “Medium term, it will revolutionize social media. Patience.”

Damus creator William Casarin previously told CoinDesk he found Apple’s review process frustrating, but the Canadian developer has already moved on to adding new features to his app after compromising with the tech giant.

“Damus v1.5 approved,” Casarin posted on the decentralized social media app late Tuesday. “Onward.”