Spotify breaks free from Apple's App Store fees

The knock-on effects continue for Apple after a blistering ruling from a federal judge earlier this week that ordered the company to stop collecting fees for purchases made outside the App Store. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple was using loopholes to circumvent her own ruling against the company from 2021. Companies are wasting no time streamlining payments outside of Apple’s walled garden, and Spotify is the latest to make these changes.

With the latest update available in the App Store, version 9.0.40, Spotify has added external links for subscription purchases, allowing it to advertise lower prices and different tiers without giving nearly a third of its revenue generated back to Apple from those subscription sales. These changes also lay the groundwork for content-specific microtransactions, like audiobooks, taking place outside the app. Spotify expressed its hope that these changes will create “seamless buying opportunities that will directly benefit creators.”

In a blog post shared on the Spotify website, the company was incensed that it took this long for Apple to comply with the same judge’s previous order in the landmark Epic Games case dealing with the exact same issue. It reads in part: “The fact that we haven’t been able to deliver these basic services, which were permitted by the judge’s order four years ago, is absurd. The ruling made it clear that Apple deliberately abused its market power to intentionally harm others and benefit only itself.”

Epic Games, which kicked all this off with its original court case, celebrated the legal victory by announcing a limited zero-commission policy for games sold through the Epic Games Store. The company also announced EGS Webshops to support out-of-app purchases launching next month.

While Apple has said it will comply with the judge’s ruling, the company also made clear it intends to appeal. It’s been a busy week for Apple’s legal team, as this comes on the heels of a separate ruling Apple faced from a patent dispute in UK courts, where the iPhone maker has been ordered to pay over $500 million in damages to Optis.

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