Apple drops the option to buy and rent content in the Apple TV app for Android TV and Google TV; sources: until recently Apple was exempt from Google's IAP cut
The move contrasts with Apple's own earlier decision to let select video apps use outside payment methods on its platforms, including Amazon Prime Video's alternative purchase flow. It makes the Apple TV app on Google's TV platforms a viewing and library-access product rather than a transactional storefront.
First-order effects
Apple TV users on Android TV and Google TV lose the ability to buy or rent content in the app, though their existing iTunes purchases remain available.
Apple avoids routing new movie rentals and purchases through Google's IAP system now that its reported exemption has ended.
Second-order effects
Google gains a more consistent application of its platform payment terms, but loses Apple TV's on-device transaction volume on Android TV and Google TV.
Video services selling transactional content must weigh the same trade-off Apple faced: preserve in-app checkout and pay the platform fee, or remove the purchase path as Amazon previously did before restoring Android IAP in Prime Video.
Third-order effects
If major video providers continue separating viewing apps from purchase flows on rival platforms, TV interfaces will become less reliable as universal storefronts and more dependent on each platform's payment rules.
The episode adds to pressure around regulated platform take rates: cross-platform media distribution can expand audience reach while leaving the platform owner in control of the checkout economics.
The trend: Streaming and digital-video apps are increasingly treating payment access on rival platforms as a strategic distribution constraint, not just a technical feature.
@TimSweeneyEpic And you are free to open your own marketplace. You are not entitled to a third party marketplace under your own terms. I can rent a room at the Hilton, and turn it into a restaurant just because we live in a “free society and market economy”
@TimSweeneyEpic Seems like they are following the platform rules set by the copyright owners. You know, like we did after you changed the license in your platform to block our product.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right Apple? Short version: - Apple charges fees when people buy on iOS - Apple used to allow purchases on its Android apps - Google allowed them for free - Not any more - Now Apple says buy elsewhere https://daringfireball.net/..…
Turning computers into endless shopping malls with tedious fee disputes has paid for a lot of Ferraris, but down here on the ground all that's happened is a bunch of apps with annoying user experiences by design
THE IRONY! Apple TV's app on Android/Google TV no longer allows customers to buy or rent movies as it doesn't want to pay the 30% commission, even as it fights developers and publishers in courts around the world to protect its own 30% tax. https://9to5mac.com/...
Did they just admit that their platform is only sustainable on platforms where they don't pay a platform fee? What a message to send to your competitors on your platform. https://twitter.com/...
There was a meeting where someone at Apple was like, “Okay, let's reduce the functionality of the Apple TV app to avoid Google's platform fees” without even a hint of irony https://twitter.com/...