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Spotify Stops Accepting Payments Set Up Via Apple's App Store - Slashdot

 1 year ago
source link: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/23/07/05/2247231/spotify-stops-accepting-payments-set-up-via-apples-app-store
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Spotify Stops Accepting Payments Set Up Via Apple's App Store

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Spotify is no longer supporting Apple's in-app purchase system. In an email to affected subscribers, Spotify says: "We're contacting you because when you joined Spotify Premium you used Apple's billing service to subscribe. Unfortunately, we no longer accept that billing method as a form of payment." Engadget reports: Spotify continues to say that those users will automatically be switched to the company's Free, ad-supported tier at the end of the current billing cycle. "If you wish to keep your Premium subscription, you will need to re-subscribe after your last billing period has ended and your account has been moved on to the Free account." But that's probably for the best. Due to Apple taking 30 percent of in-app purchases, Spotify users who were subscribed through in-app purchases were being charged an extra $3 per month compared to subscribing through Spotify directly. That's despite the fact that Apple now reduces its commission rate to 15 percent on subscriptions after the first year. Apple said in a regulatory filing from 2019 that it collected that 15 percent fee on roughly 680,000 Spotify customers. Users transitioning from Apple's payments can subscribe to Premium via a credit card or PayPal.
  • Re:

    Yes, but... Steve Jobs was... Umm... smart and stuff.

      • Re:

        Perfect? Not genetically, on account of the cancer that killed him.

  • You don't like Apple because of how they treat the Chinese as slave labor, yet at the same time you want the Chinese economy to collapse and war to break out?

  • Re:

    Seems like a common sentiment - hoping that Apple will die because their stranglehold on payment terms for iOS devices is to be broken. I think we can all agree that breaking the monopoly is a "good" thing, but we ought to be careful not to just assume that the opposite is necessarily an automatic good. On the pro side you'll find folks like Cory Doctorow describing today's market it like this:

    I think he's dancing on the grave a bit too early, death is by no means either assured, nor "good" without a little

    • Of course, Spotify hates Apple payments. It means if you want to cancel your subscription, you just tap the screen and it's cancelled. There is zero chance for the company to beg you to stay. The cancel link is also just there - there's no chance the company can hide it or make you call or write in to cancel.

      And since Apple handles the payment, once cancelled, the company can't continue to charge you months afterwards. Once you cancel the payments stop. Can't "accidentally" charge you for an extra month for a few months making you call to get a refund that will never appear.

      Spotify was getting more money via Apple payments. They want to stop because they're losing out on getting your payment information and it's a bit too easy to cancel service.

      I mean, why else would people willingly pay $3 more for Spotify?

      • It is illegal in the developer ToS to mention alternatives. Arguably, the common user who may have been introduced exclusively through their app might not have known
      • As an Apple device user, I appreciate that all of my subscriptions are listed and managed in one place in the system preferences. It makes it simpler and easier for me to review and manage subscriptions. Whatâ(TM)s not to like, unless youâ(TM)re business, for whom itâ(TM)s more profitable to make this harder or even more friction and contact points.

      • Re:

        It is literally this easy on Spotify's own website. You click cancel, and it directs you to a confirmation page that lists exactly when your premium subscription expires. Apple does not make this process any easier than it already is.

        Spotify hates Apple because Apple takes a cut. That's really all there is to it. No need for some "too easy to cancel" conspiracy.

    • Microsoft has recognized that getting free pull requests and bug reports means they can do more without hiring more. Its a smart business decision that benefits them, but also benefits everyone else, too.
  • Re:

    Now now, Mommy and Daddy still love you, but we're going to have to empty your piggy bank, sweetie. Don't worry, you won't need it later.

  • Re:

    China is not invading Taiwan.
  • It would be a signal to the rest of the commercial software market that poor software development practices and rampant data slurping are a-okay. Apple and their mafioso-like behaviour with charging protection money is still worth it when compared to the alternatives.

    For instance: They are the only major vendor encouraging native software development where your computer does all the processing on-device, which is essential to you as a user having control over your data. They are also the only vendor to h
    • Re:

      Gets it right? You're kidding, right?

      Some years ago, maybe around 2010, I was traveling with a colleague who needed to send a spreadsheet immediately. It couldn't wait, so our only option was to copy the file from his laptop to his phone so that it could be sent. That's when he discovered one of the many reasons iPhone's are worthless for business users. I copied the file to my Blackberry over USB and sent it for him.

      This is still a problem, by the way. I can't just copy any file I want to an iPhone.


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