Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Netflix No Longer Offering In-App Subscription Options on iOS Devices
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Every iOS dev, including Netflix pays apple a yearly developer fee.
I think Netflix would have to lose 15+% of their iOS subscribers in order to make the outcome net negative. It looks like they already ran it as an experiment, and I assume they determined that it was worth it. That jibes with what my hypothesis would be as well; I don't see 15+% of Apple users ditching Netflix simply due to billing. iOS users should be pretty familiar with this song and dance by now, anyway. Netflix is hardly the only company doing this.
Pretty “funny” about the comments on the in-app purchases where as consumers why would we even care about a Netflix and apple agreement when we are not affected?
Last edited:
Issue isn’t people leaving. It’s whether as many new people will sign up.
Personally I always choose iTunes billing when available because a lot of these services (not so much Netflix) make cancelling very difficult, and with iTunes billing you never have that issue. Also fewer accounts to get hacked
This is disappointing. I dumped Netflix. As I only subscribe when certain shows like stranger things and others come out. But I liked the convenience of automatically logging in. And also I would buy iTunes cards at a discount and used that to pay for my Netflix subscription. Now I cannot do either.
Actually, Netflix wouldn't have had the reach it has if it wasn't for Roku, from almost a decade ago.
iPhone and iPad acccess is nice, but it's really brining streaming to the big tv screen that makes the difference
Music services, I agree, it's all apple and mobile phones
We're all familiar with Apple's 30% cut from a purchased app. We know it takes money to run the App Store, process payments, bandwidth, etc. And the industry standard seems to be 30% on other apps stores.
What people are questioning is Apple's continuing cut each and every month from a 3rd-party service.
Even if Apple only takes 15% from a subscription purchased through the App Store... that's still a hell of a lot of money from a $12.99 charge every month.
Should it require $1.95 a month, per account, to allow Netflix on Apple devices? That seems a little high.
On the other hand... some people like the fact that they can let Apple handle all their subscriptions in one place. Whether it's for convenience, or safety/privacy, I see why it's desirable. In that case... I can understand paying an extra $2 for that comfort.
I wonder how many of Netflix's 137 million users are actually subscribed through Apple... and thus will be affected by this?
I've had a Netflix subscription for a long time. I registered through the Netflix website. In fact... I prefer to sign-up and subscribe to services directly with the company. But that's me.
What people are questioning is Apple's continuing cut each and every month from a 3rd-party service.
Even if Apple only takes 15% from a subscription purchased through the App Store... that's still a hell of a lot of money from a $12.99 charge every month.
Should it require $1.95 a month, per account, to allow Netflix on Apple devices? That seems a little high.
On the other hand... some people like the fact that they can let Apple handle all their subscriptions in one place. Whether it's for convenience, or safety/privacy, I see why it's desirable. In that case... I can understand paying an extra $2 for that comfort.
I wonder how many of Netflix's 137 million users are actually subscribed through Apple... and thus will be affected by this?
I've had a Netflix subscription for a long time. I registered through the Netflix website. In fact... I prefer to sign-up and subscribe to services directly with the company. But that's me.
Last edited:
No, it should not charge a penny less. Apple has created a platform for developers to use their skills, create apps and make money. And it is gigantic work of many many years and for years developers have profited from this (with Apple taking it's cut of course)
What Netflix did makes complete sense. Netflix does have the money and ability to put themselves now on any platform out there (including smart TV's, consoles, tablets, and whatnot) and it does not need to rely on Apple. But Netflix is one of the very few who can break free of iTunes 30% cut. I say good for Netflix.
...which is marginal in comparison to Apple's cut.
I agree. Netflix is an ubiquitous household name. No set top or tv manufacturer today would dare release something without Netflix packaged in it. Apple was the same when they released ATV4. They needed Netflix on it.
There is a lot of talk here about getting iTunes gift cards at a discount that can be used to pay for things like Netflix.
But since it costs an extra $3/mo if you subscribe through iTunes instead of Netflix directly... are you really saving money?
I haven't run the numbers... it was just a quick question that popped into my mind.
EDIT: I was wrong about the extra cost subscribing through iTunes!
But since it costs an extra $3/mo if you subscribe through iTunes instead of Netflix directly... are you really saving money?
I haven't run the numbers... it was just a quick question that popped into my mind.
EDIT: I was wrong about the extra cost subscribing through iTunes!
Last edited:
There is a lot of talk here about getting iTunes gift cards at a discount that can be used to pay for things like Netflix.
But since it costs an extra $3/mo if you subscribe through iTunes instead of Netflix directly... are you really saving money?
I haven't run the numbers... it was just a quick question that popped into my mind.
There is also the time and effort needed to procure and apply the gift cards. Perhaps time is not money to those people
I am glad Netflix decided to do this. This year I wanted to upgrade to a subscription with UHD. Forget it when you're billed via iTunes. You have to cancel, wait for a couple of weeks, then re-subscribe. When you paid via Netflix directly, it's a simple click on their site.
Not sure where all the hate comes from. I have never seen discounted iTunes cards here in the Netherlands.
I think you are confusing Netflix with spotify. With Netflix, it costs the same whether you subscribe through iTunes or directly to Netflix. Netflix simply eats the loss if you choose to do it through iTunes.There is a lot of talk here about getting iTunes gift cards at a discount that can be used to pay for things like Netflix.
But since it costs an extra $3/mo if you subscribe through iTunes instead of Netflix directly... are you really saving money?
I haven't run the numbers... it was just a quick question that popped into my mind.
With Spotify, they have to pass the costs on to the consumer because they already pay 70% of revenue to labels. 30% cut to Apple, 70% to labels, it doesn't take a maths genius to see why this wouldn't be sustainable.
Yeah, what is it, $100? Ha.
I’m guessing that goes toward developing dev tools and App Kit, not managing millions of downloads, payments and updates. Could be wrong, that’s just a guess. But $100 is nothing.
[doublepost=1546073334][/doublepost]
The (false) market Netflix has jury-rigged favors them heavily right now. Maybe they’ll pull off a trick like Amazon and wind up turning a profit and maintaining huge market share. Or maybe they won’t and their House of Cards (double entendre untended) will collapse. My guess is that when the competition in the streaming market heats up, they’ll be looking for every customer they can get. It’ll be fascinating to see how it plays out.
[doublepost=1546073828][/doublepost]
Please, name another tech or media company that is more innovative, provides more long term value for consumers (TCO), has higher quality ratings and consumer satisfaction, and is as well designed and easy to use. Name one. I’m all ears.
Like TV smart remotes with Netflix buttons on their remotes, along with Amazon Prime. So how much all these companies get on a monthly basis?
You mean like the way I can download and update Netflix from the Google Play store, or our LG smart TV, or our PS4. What is it I pay to them for this?
[doublepost=1546075990][/doublepost]
And what is your specialist subject on Mastermind? Stating the bleeding obvious?