New twist in the Spotify versus Apple war. The Apple brand is once again refusing to allow the streaming giant to deploy an update to its application on iPhone.
War never dies, as the other said. The opponent Spotify has Apple is not ready to stop in any case. The spark that ignited the powder dates from 2019. That year, Spotify filed a complaint against Apple for abuse of a dominant position in the music sector. streaming audio. 5 years later, in March 2024, the European Commission agrees with the complainant and Apple receives a fine of 1.8 billion euros. Given the amount, we understand that the Cupertino company could blame that of Stockholm.
For its part, Spotify welcomes the decision and decides to take advantage of it, especially since the Digital Markets Act (DMA) has entered into force andit forces Apple to open its ecosystem. The platform therefore requests the deployment of an update in which it explains how to subscribe directly from your site with a link to it. A barely disguised way ofdodge the tax levied by Apple if subscribed via the App Store. Except that the update is rejected under the pretext that Spotify must request the right to embed the link and especially pay 27% commission to Apple.
Apple still refuses to allow Spotify to update its application
Never mind, Spotify requests an update again, this time without any link, but with the same information as the previous one. Wasted effort, Apple continues to turn a deaf ear. Faced with what strongly resembles a second refusal, a Spotify spokesperson declares that Apple “once again defied the European Commission’s decision, rejecting our update because it attempted to communicate with customers about our prices unless we paid a new tax to Apple. Their contempt for consumers and developers is matched only by their contempt for the law“.
The streaming platform did not wish adhere to Apple’s new rules for developers in Europe. They are what make it possible to offer an alternative payment method and the downloading your app outside the App Store. But this also comes with the new tax affecting those who choose to do so. This is what Spotify wants to avoid by redirecting users to its site.
Source: 9to5Mac