You probably know you don't have to pay to use Spotify, as long as you're good with ads. For a commercial-free experience, of course, you need to subscribe to Premium. If you ever tried to sign up for Spotify Premium on your iPhone, however, you might have noticed there was no way to do so—neither a “pay now” button, nor a link to subscribe elsewhere.
The Apple tax
That's because Spotify didn't want 15–30% of the money you gave it going directly to Apple. That's how Apple's App Store works (and largely Google's, for that matter). Any payments you make within an app on your iPhone, Apple gets a cut—either 15% or 30%, depending on how much money the app in question has paid, or how long a subscription has been running for.
Spotify and apps like it don't have to pay the Apple tax if you make your purchases outside the app: Signing up for Spotify Premium through Safari, for example, means Spotify gets 100% of the money. Apple knows this, which is why it has traditionally banned apps from linking to external sites for payments. In their view, if you want customers to pay for your services directly, you either need to go through the app and pay the fee, or hope they google it on their own.
Spotify had a Premium tab in the app, even for free users, but it only let those users know those subscriptions existed, and that they needed to subscribe through their web browser if they wanted to sign up. (The app even acknowledged that it was a pain, without directly blaming Apple.)
Spotify can now direct you to its own website for payments
That all changed this week: Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple cannot block developers in any way from directing their users to third-party websites to make payments, or to impose any fees on purchases made outside the app. That means that apps like Spotify can push updates to their app, which include links to their own websites for payments and subscriptions.
What do you think so far?
Apple says it will comply with the ruling, but appeal it all the same. In the interim, however, it does appear the company is in compliance, as Apple did approve Spotify's latest update. If you go to the Premium tab in the app, you now see links to various subscription options.
This ruling didn't come out of nowhere. It's in response to Fortnite developer Epic Games' continuous antitrust lawsuit against Apple. Judge Rogers disagreed with most of Epic's claims in a 2021 decision, but did rule that Apple needed to allow developers to direct customers to third-party payment options. Apple bent the rules here, by issuing a new fee on purchases made outside of apps, as well as rolling out messages to persuade customers away from these third-party sites. Judge Rogers was not pleased, calling out Apple executives (including CEO Tim Cook), and holding the company in civil contempt of court. Apple may also be investigated for criminal contempt.
Apple might have had a particularly bad day in court, but apps like Spotify are likely quite pleased. So, expect to see more options to pay for things outside of the apps you use. Some might even charge less, now that it's easier to direct customers away from Apple's in-app purchases. Not Spotify, though: The company didn't offer in-app payments before, and still don't, so Premium still costs exactly the same.
