Spotify reports a surge in Premium subscriptions after Apple tweaked App Store rules

Spotify

Popular music streaming platform Spotify was one of the first apps to take advantage of the App Store’s recent changes. A few weeks ago, the U.S. District Court in Northern California ruled in favor of Fortnite maker Epic Games after its long-running battle with Apple. This allows U.S. app developers to direct their customers to other ways to pay from within their iOS apps without having to pay any commission to the company. This has now led to a noticeable boost in Premium subscriptions from iOS users for the Spotify app.

Spotify has detailed these findings in an amicus brief submitted in support of Epic Games after its ongoing legal dispute with Apple, resulting in providing alternative payment methods outside the App Store’s processing system to iOS app developers. The legal document claims that Spotify’s recent App Store update supporting web payments has resulted in “a significant increase in iOS users upgrading to a Premium subscription.”

This new version of the Spotify iOS app allows users to get cheaper Premium subscription rates through web-based methods instead of traditional in-app purchase methods. Additionally, iOS users can purchase audiobooks on the Spotify app directly within the app, instead of needing to do so on the desktop app or web browser.

The latest version of the Spotify app for iOS also shows pricing details and promotional information with an external link that lets users subscribe to the app via Safari. Moreover, the music stream platform has stated that while Android’s conversions to Premium subscription remained steady, iOS conversions saw a sharp rise since this new page went live.