iPhone app developers can now sell content, subscriptions and digital services via free apps.

Apple takes a 30 per cent cut from all in-app purchases, which were previously limited to paid applications.

“You can also simplify your development by creating a single version of your app that uses In App Purchase to unlock additional functionality, eliminating the need to create Lite versions of your app,” Apple said in an email to developers, according to Business Insider.

“Using In App Purchase in your app can also help combat some of the problems of software piracy by allowing you to verify In App Purchases.”

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian said that the move represented “an important milestone for both Apple and the social gaming ecosystem, which has encountered tremendous success on Facebook by enticing users to try free apps and then monetising usage through virtual goods and micro-transactions.

“Apple’s iTunes is a functional payment system so we expect social game developers such as Zynga, Playdom, and Playfish to rapidly develop free games that leverage the iTunes payment infrastructure for social game play and micro-transactions.

“In our view, Apple’s decision to allow the purchase of virtual goods in free apps dramatically expands the market opportunity for social game companies by adding another sizable distribution platform (other than Facebook) and enhances the Apple/iPod Touch’s ability to compete as a social gaming platform.”