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Both Spotify and Elon Musk have been opposed to Apple’s App Store norms in the past. Now, the two took to Twitter this weekend to once again dispute the rules. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek called the standards “absurd”, and Elon Musk said they introduced a “serious scaling problem”.
The debate began last week when Twitter allowed all users to “subscribe” to the network. Musk answered user questions about the news, explaining why the subscription took longer to appear on the iPhone than it did on the site. He emphasized that subscriptions take a few days longer to activate on the iPhone than on the web because currently all subscriptions have to be approved by Apple.
This is related to the App Store’s criteria for in-app digital content subscriptions, which Twitter must adhere to as these new subscriptions are available through the iPhone app. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek responded by citing Musk’s comments and once again condemned Apple’s policy.
This is becoming a serious scaling challenge
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 30, 2023
it’s not new
Spotify has been one of the most vocal opponents of the App Store standards. The company has also filed antitrust charges against Apple in the European Union, claiming that Apple can offer Apple Music subscriptions within the app for free, giving Spotify 30% of its subscriber revenue to Apple (or 15% from the second year onwards). ) have to give. It did just that.
Elon Musk has previously criticized Apple’s App Store pricing. He compared this to a 30% Internet tax, claiming that the fees are a major obstacle to the growth and profitability of software developers.
The battle over the App Store criteria has raged for years, with many developers and businesses claiming the rules are overly restrictive and unfairly favor Apple’s own apps and services. As more companies move to subscription-based business models, the issue of in-app purchases and their associated costs becomes more pressing.
It remains to be seen whether Apple will change its App Store policies in response to complaints from Spotify, Elon Musk and other developers. However, as more companies speak out against the rules and demand more transparency and fairness in the app marketplace, the pressure on the company is likely to increase.
