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Spotify Subscribers No Longer Allowed to Pay Through App Store
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Sorry but that's Apple's decision on how to run things. Not yours.
How much would you charge? $30 per app review? + $50/mo for high volume distribution? This would kill indie developers.
They are absolutely freeloading off of Apple. Apple is allowing it because otherwise, these categories of apps would never exist if a cut is mandated just like Apple is allowing Netflix and Spotify to exist without ever paying Apple cut too. It was Netflix/Spotify's decision to include IAP.
yes, poor apple, all the money they got goes for servers' upkeep. apple crew basically works for free, poor they! (that's sarcasm for those extra dense)
That's a different argument. You're saying they didn't know about the rules because they didn't read it. That's their fault.
And in the case of iOS, I can't go to a competing store down the road to get it on sale.
The problem is that Apple bundles payment transaction processing fees, "finder" fees, general App Store upkeep fees and plain profit cut all together.
If you only look at the Apple fee as "payment processing" it would be ridiculously overpriced, but you cannot decouple it from all the rest that Apple bundles into it.
For some developers the Apple fee is a good value-proposition, but for others it's not nearly as good. If you are Spotify you already have payment processing in place and you don't really need the "discovery" from Apple either, not to mention that Apple being a direct competitor is obviously going to promote their own service anyway.
Furthermore, the bulk of the costs the Spotify subscriptions has to cover are the costs of streaming the content to the users, which is 100% paid by Spotify without any cost paid by Apple. This means Apple basically gets paid a share of a subscription based on costs they don't have to pay in the first place. No wonder it's considered a bad deal by Spotify.
?
$99/year dev program barely pays for 3 app reviews.
1. Apple Maps is free. Google Maps charges thousands per month for iOS developers depending on usage.
2. Apple distribution is free. Apple splits your binaries into optimized builds too. Gets copied to many data centers around the world.
3. CloudKit is *essentially* free if you don't abuse the requests. Developers don't even need to pay for their own servers. Bear notes is a good example.
4. Push Notification servers
5. iCloud storage for settings
6. China distribution. Not even Google setup their infrastructure in China because it was too expensive and plus they got banned after abusing the law. Apple made it a simple checkbox. You don't even need to replace Apple Maps with Baidu maps. It just works.
7. Free to use 2D/3D game engines (SpriteKit/SceneKit)
8. Gamecenter matchmaking and turned base services for all multiplayer games to use for free
9. Unlimited app reviews within 24 hour turn around time to give customers confidence they're not downloading a malicious app
10. Testflight testing services
11. Foreign currency exchange
12. Customer support for customers asking for a refund
and so on...
I feel it’s time for Spotify to reduce their rates. They don’t even make any hardware so, since all they’re delivering is digital anyway, their service could be .01 a month and it’d still be pure profit. /s
1. PS5 game selling at best buy where best buy discounts the software is essentially the PS5 developers giving up more of their cut. Best Buy takes about 10-15% cut off of each game so when a game is on sale, Best Buy is simply giving up their cut. All you're really doing is "I want to give the developer less". Sony still gets a cut regardless of buying it digitally from PSN store or physical copy from best buy.
2. Web is the competing store
Apple does not only profit from apps monetarily through fees: Apple ultimately wants to sell the devices and having the apps the users wants available on the platform is critical to maximize hardware sales.
An iPhone without Spotify is going to sell less than an iPhone with Spotify, just like a Spotify subscription is going to sell less if Spotify is not available on the iPhone.
The relationship is symbiotic: even if none of the party pays the other any significant money, both profit from the relationship in other ways.
and then you'll be forced to install Microsoft Store to continue using Microsoft Office
install Battle.net to continue playing Call of Duty and Candy Crush
install Adobe Creative Cloud to continue using Photoshop
install EA Origin to play the Sims
and etc...
Um, yes it is.
Those existing users paying through the app store are not getting kicked off, they just need to pay Spotify directly, if they want to.
People often forget all the benefits Apple provides to their customer, but quickly jump into blaming Apple wagon at every single opportunities.
Apple wants to charge a fee for transactions in its store, just like everyone else. Spotify doesn’t want to pay that fee, so they’re steering payment traffic away from that store, even though Apple still features their app in that store. EU courts would criticize Ford for unfairly not selling Toyotas, so I take that decision with a grain of salt.
Fascinating how some come up with a gut check percent number is if it’s based in data or precedent. Google also charges 15% fyi. From what data did you derive your 5% figure? You’re saying Apple should offer a 10% discount versus the competition just because they’re Apple?
Thankfully not a subscriber to this scummy company.
If I were, they'd get the *🏻from me REAL quick.
One of the many reasons people enter the Apple ecosystem is to benefit from centralized, SECURE, RELIABLE billing and subscription management! You want to be like Android or any other company that has more security holes in your infrastructure than Swiss cheese and take away that choice? You can take a walk!
If I were, they'd get the *🏻from me REAL quick.
One of the many reasons people enter the Apple ecosystem is to benefit from centralized, SECURE, RELIABLE billing and subscription management! You want to be like Android or any other company that has more security holes in your infrastructure than Swiss cheese and take away that choice? You can take a walk!
I don't agree and I really don't agree with Apple here. They need to realize that the App store is a very integral part of the iPhone and iPad experience and they need to really make it welcoming for developers and not nickel and dime their way like this. Terrible!
In this case what ultimately is happening is that the user experience is uneven and ugly, thus defeating Apple's core (or supposed core) of well-integrated design. Spotify is askewing the Apple commission which is totally in their right. This means for users that the sometimes available in-app subscription for some apps and not for others make the whole experience ugly and un-integrated.
I think this is a shame on Apple.
Music isn't free. Hopefully Spotify is paying some kind of fee to the music artists whose songs they are playing!
No they need to keep it the same and keep adding features. I will never give my card info to Spotify to use an App on IOS. The more companies that have your info, the better chance you will be involved in a breach.
If a company wants my business they will gladly pay for the trust I have with Apple and my data. Remember Spotify is a Swedish company that is partially owned by the Chinese company Tencent. I’m out.
Obviously. But I don't want to pay for them to use it anymore since I am paying for Apple Music. So this is my excuse to no longer pay for it.
I’ve used computers for many years. Installing software from many sources is not an issue.
If people are upset that Apple takes 15% or 30% of purchases in their App Store... they'd be shocked to know that Google takes 45% of advertising revenue on YouTube.
That seems a little high, doesn't it?
🤔
That seems a little high, doesn't it?
🤔
I'm afraid you have the "wrong way". 3rd party apps are what made Apple's platform big in the first place. Why do you think Apple allows the huge number of free and "freemium" apps in the app store? No apps, no iPhone sales. Yet you think for some reason the app developers should pay Apple for building its platform?!
Besides, Apple makes an estimated $4 billion in advertising revenue, the bulk of it from app store ads. That alone should easily pay for whatever it costs Apple to keep the app store running.