Epic Games and Spotify test Apple’s updated App Store rules after court-ordered changes to payment policies
On Friday, both firms submitted fresh versions of their respective apps to Apple’s App Review.
For Epic Games, it would signify Fortnite’s comeback to the App Store. Apple deleted the game in 2020 and cancelled Epic’s account after the firm disputed the App Store policies by including direct payment support in Fortnite, hence preparing its antitrust action against Apple.
Spotify, on the other hand, wants to let Premium members purchase “top-up” hours for audiobook listening and let its users purchase single audiobooks directly. Subscribers who exceed the 15 free hours they get each month may buy these hours.
The streamer’s most recent update follows Apple’s approval this week of the Amazon Kindle app, which for the first time included a “Buy Book” button. Among other things, it also follows Spotify’s previous week’s clearance, which allowed U.S. consumers access to pricing details for its subscription plans within its streaming app.
Eventually, other apps will probably join Epic Games and Spotify to benefit from the updated App Store rules.
For large corporations like Epic and Spotify, the App Store policy change the judge mandated in the lawsuit is about increasing their bottom lines; for smaller developers, however, it might affect their very existence as it allows new revenue models to flourish.
Last week, after Apple lost a significant legal fight in the antitrust case brought by Epic Games, the revised App Store rules were implemented. A federal judge said Apple had not obeyed the court’s directives regarding in-app purchases. Though Apple mostly won that case, the judge told the tech behemoth to be more competitive on payment processing.
Apple had been forcing developers to request that authorization; rather, it let them link out to their website to provide customers with alternate means of paying for items like virtual goods or subscriptions. Should it be approved, developers also have to structure how the links are shown in their apps to Apple’s preference, including the usage of “scare screens” to alert customers of the hazards of transactions made outside Apple’s gates.
Most notably, Apple was still charging a significant 27% commission on those web sales, down from 30% prior to the modifications.
None of that was what the judge had in mind, so it compelled Apple to remove its anticompetitive obstacles and let developers connect to web purchase possibilities without further hoops to jump through, and without commissions.
