American multinational technology giant Apple Inc, owner of the App Store, one of the largest application hosting platforms in the world, has updated its guidelines include accommodations for hosted applications to integrate non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

While this could be very gigantic news considering the risks the recent addition will pose for developers and apps to integrate NFTs, Apple’s guidelines do come with some limitations. The updated guidelines are;

“Apps can utilize in-app purchases to sell non-fungible token (NFT) services such as minting, listing, and transferring. Apps can allow users to view their own NFTs, provided that owning the NFT does not unlock features or functionality within the app. Apps may allow users to browse other people’s NFT collections, provided that the apps cannot contain buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchases.

The update can be considered both positive and negative as its functionalities are generally constrained, which may not bode well for developers to maximize the traffic generated by the app.

NFTs are entering the mainstream as an offshoot of blockchain technology, and the number of tech giants, particularly those in the social media space, supporting their development has continued to grow over the past year. Although Reddit does fired own NFT collection, Twitter began allowing NFT owners to include NFTs as profile photos earlier this year.

While these moves assist publicize the technology’s potential, Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms has launched NFT support in some of its apps including Instagram.

Since most of these apps live in the App Store, Apple’s recent addition will especially assist with their adoption, and developers can consider this a win despite the restrictions in place.

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