San Francisco, Mar 31 (IANS): Apple has announced that it will now allow "reader" apps to offer a link to an external website so users can create and manage accounts outside of the App Store.

The company announced that reader apps can now link their users to the developer's website for account creation and management.

"With the update of App Store Review guideline 3.1.3(a), developers of reader apps can now request access to the External Link Account Entitlement," the company said in a statement.

Reader apps are apps that provide one or more of the following digital content types "magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music or video" as the primary functionality of the app.

Previous App Store guidelines prevented reader apps from linking to their website counterparts. Earlier, Apple agreed to allow certain apps to link to their corresponding websites to close an anti-trust investigation.

Although the change was Japan-focused, Apple said back in September that the updated guidelines would apply worldwide.

In addition, a ruling in the Epic Games vs Apple lawsuit mandated that the iPhone maker allow apps to direct customers to their subscription and account pages.