On Saturday comiXology, the large comic reading/purchasing mobile app, removed the option to buy comics through In-App purchasing. Customers will now have to go to comiXology’s website to purchase comics, then be redirected back to the app to read it.

I have used comiXology in the past and loved it, mainly for its ability to purchase comics from the app with my Apple ID. I would imagine that many people liked the convenience of not having to give out their credit card information and create a comiXology account to buy comics.

ComiXology is adding another step to their customers checkout process, something that should never be done. In-App purchasing allowed customers to easily buy a comic, since they did not have to complete a traditional checkout process. New customers, who just got their iPad for instance, will have to leave the app, go to comiXology’s website, select a comic, create an account, and enter in their payment information. The process before this change required the customer to open the app, select a comic, and enter their Apple ID password. It didn’t require them to have their payment information on hand, or create a new account with comiXology.

In the long term they have removed Apple and Google from taking their cuts for In-App purchasing, but complicated the buying experience for their customers. It should be noted that comiXology was purchased by Amazon last month.