Apple approves a Spotify iOS app update that lets US customers use other payment options beyond Apple's payment system; Patreon said it plans to do the same
or if — Apple approves the update. — www.theverge.com/news/659891/ ... Jay Peters / @jaypeters.net : Following yesterday's major Epic v. Apple ruling, Patreon tells me that it will update its iOS app so that creators can accept payments outside of Apple's payments system. — www.theverge.com/news/659754/ ... Threads: Joe Rossignol / @rsgnl : I think it's totally fair that Spotify can show this information in its iPhone app, if they prefer not to use the App Store's in-app purchase system. Apple brings in like $300 billion in revenue per year, they'll be just fine. @eshumarneedi@www.threads.com : This company is embarrassing. Spotify could already link to an external payment processor before because it's a “reader app.” Netflix does this. There was no fee for reader apps IIRC. This is just a giant publicity stunt because they're going to get rejected and they can make a fuss about it. … X: Andy Yen / @andyyen : In response to the recent court ruling in the US against Apple's illegal in-app purchase monopoly, @ProtonPrivacy will finally be allowed to let iOS users purchase subscriptions outside of the app store. No Apple tax means we will lower prices for users by up to 30%. Michael Luo / @azianmike : Stripe 🤝iOS developers Big news iOS app developers! You can now accept payments with @stripe outside of your app, with no iOS app store commissions. The Stripe team 🧑🍳cooked up a quick guide walking you through how. Go live now! Docs in the 🧵 [video] @spotifynews : Yesterday, a U.S. federal judge ordered Apple to loosen its iron grip on its App Store rules. This consequential action will deliver significant benefits for American consumers. We just submitted a Spotify app update to Apple with certain features for our American users, [image] Justin Kan / @justinkan : On the back of the latest Epic v Apple ruling, we are launching Stash Pay: embedded checkout for developers on iOS https://dev.stash.gg/... Malte Ubl / @cramforce : Apple's loss of the app store payment monopoly is a great win for native apps AND brings them closer together to the open web. One huge irony is the Apple Pay™️ works blissfully inside of the Safari view spawned from your app. Perfect UX, 27% lower cost https://vercel.com/... [image] Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : Stripe launched functionality today to allow developers to accept web-based, linked-out payments natively on iOS. They appear to have anticipated that Apple would eventually be forced to relax its fee structure for alternative payments. [image] Egor / @egorka : @eric_seufert This functionality has been there for years. Only the guide is new on Stripe's side. Difference between yesterday and today is that yesterday you were not supposed to link to these checkout pages from inside the app a now you will likely can, but the checkout pages themselves Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : The second-order effects of this will be fascinating to watch unfold. If developers keep more of their IAP revenue, they'll divert some proportion — for many developers, most — of that reclaimed margin back into user acquisition spending. This is a boon for the major mobile app install networks. Ironically, Apple's own ad network, Apple Ads, might benefit more than any other. Ari Paparo / @aripap : @eric_seufert Do you think web transactions will become the norm or just for the best and most sophisticated like Netflix and Spotify? Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : The norm. In fact, most subscription apps already drive users to the web for onboarding to try to avoid the commission. This will make that process much more straightforward and performant, and make it practical for games. It was becoming such a problem that Apple started buying ads *to promote subscription apps it doesn't own* so that users would be forwarded to the App Store and not web landing pages! Guillermo Rauch / @rauchg : Freedom to access the web, without coercion or taxation, is as fundamental as freedom of speech. We're open sourcing an iOS Web Payments Starter kit, deployable to @vercel with one click, powered by @nextjs, @stripe & https://solito.dev//@expo. But there's more work to [image] Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : Tim Cook chose poorly I have chronicled Apple's attempts to maintain its commission on out-of-store transactions in my Apple to developers: Heads I win, tails you lose series. My argument all along has been that, if Apple is allowed to apply its significant commission on transactions that take place out of the App Store, the economics of payment alternatives are simply unworkable... Forums: r/technews : Apple approves Spotify app update with external payments | Following the update, Spotify can freely advertise prices to US users if they subscribe outside the app. r/technology : Apple approves Spotify app update with external payments | Following the update, Spotify can freely advertise prices to US users if they subscribe outside the app. Msmash / Slashdot : Spotify Moves To Bypass Apple Payments After Landmark Ruling MacRumors Forums : Patreon Planning iOS App Update to Skirt In-App Purchases
Context & Ripple Effects
This reverses a long-running constraint for Spotify: its iOS app previously removed audiobook purchasing to comply with App Store rules, while Spotify argued Apple was preserving the status quo for developers. Patreon had likewise been preparing for Apple’s 30% fee on iOS memberships.
The change matters because it is an early operational test of the court-ordered opening in the U.S., rather than merely a policy dispute. It gives subscription and creator platforms a route to present a payment relationship outside Apple’s in-app purchase flow.
First-order effects
- Spotify can direct U.S. iPhone users to payment options beyond Apple’s in-app purchase system; Apple has approved that app update.
- Patreon plans to make the same payment-path change, potentially letting creators collect membership payments without routing those transactions through Apple’s system.
Second-order effects
- Other subscription, media, and creator apps gain a concrete precedent for submitting external-payment experiences to App Review, increasing pressure on Apple to apply the new standard consistently.
- Payment providers and platforms that own the customer checkout can capture more of the billing relationship, while Apple’s in-app purchase channel becomes less central for eligible U.S. transactions.
Third-order effects
- If approvals persist through Apple’s challenge to the ruling, iOS monetization in the U.S. could shift from a single mandated checkout toward competing payment flows, weakening a core form of platform gatekeeper leverage.
- The dispute is likely to move from whether external payments are allowed to how visibly apps may promote them and what terms Apple can attach—an unresolved boundary as Apple appeals the ruling.
The trend: This is part of a broader regulatory and judicial push to separate mobile-platform distribution from control of every in-app transaction.