Spotify removes option to pay subscription via App Store on iOS

Spotify has removed the ability to subscribe and checkout through the App Store on iOS. The company follows Netflix, which announced last week that it would remove that option.

Existing subscriptions will continue to run through the system of in-app purchases in the App Store, Spotify reports. Nothing will change for existing customers. New customers can no longer subscribe via the iOS app. That option was three euros per month more expensive, because Apple withholds thirty percent of the payments via the App Store. After one year, that percentage goes to fifteen.

Spotify also mentions that as a reason for stopping offering the option. “Apple charged extra costs on top of the standard rate, so we decided to stop working with middlemen, so that you can save money.”

The app now says “Premium cannot be purchased from this app” on the Premium tab in the free version. Users can then purchase Premium or Family on the web, but there is no link for that in the app.

It is unknown when exactly the option disappeared, because Spotify has not put the change in the changelog of its iOS app. The most recent version includes optimizations for the iPhone XS Max, which came out in September. Netflix recently did the same and no longer offers the option to purchase subscriptions via the App Store. Many companies denounce Apple’s monopoly on iOS apps and associated revenue, which keeps the rate at 30 percent. On platforms without a monopoly, such as games, there have been alternatives where game developers have to pay less in percentage, such as ten percent with Discord and twelve percent with Epic.