The European Commission is reportedly preparing to formalize a decision, following the investigation it carried out after the complaint filed by Spotify in 2019. As a reminder, the music streaming service had accused Apple of using the rules of the 'App Store to favor Apple Music, to the detriment of competing services. More precisely, Spotify pointed out the 30% commission that Apple charges on subscriptions. The Swedish company also accused Apple of restricting communication between developers and users of iOS applications (in particular to inform subscribers that it is possible to pay less if they do not pay for this subscription via the App Store ).
According to an article in the Financial Times, the European Commission's decision could be announced in March. And this would impose a fine of 500 million euros on Apple. But for the moment, since the information has not been confirmed, caution remains in order. It is fair to recall that in 2021, a statement of objections addressed to Apple pointed out the provisions preventing the orientation of app users towards alternative means of payment.“While Apple allows users to use music subscriptions purchased elsewhere, its rules prevent developers from informing users of these purchasing options, which are generally cheaper.”, explained the European Commission in its press release.
Changes already made
In any case, after Spotify's complaint, many changes have already been made by the App Store. The commission charged by the store, for example, fell from 30% to 15%, for developers who do not generate more than a million dollars per year. Apple also ended up allowing developers to inform their users about the possibility of paying for their subscriptions outside of the App Store payment system (without the 15% or 30% commission).
Furthermore, as the EU prepares to apply theDigital Markets Actto regulate the digital giants, Apple has already announced a series of changes to comply with the new legislation. The firm will, for example, authorize the distribution of applications outside the App Store. And payment applications or banking applications will finally be able to use the iPhone's NFC module for contactless payments (this restriction had also been the subject ofof an investigation by the European Commission).
Spotify
Pair : Spotify Ltd.
