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You‘re not forced to use them? So you have to pay your Spotify subscription by cash or checks. How many people will still subscribe to Spotify? I haven‘t ever

You‘re not forced to use them? So you have to pay your Spotify subscription by cash or checks. How many people will still subscribe to Spotify? I haven‘t ever seen a check in my live besides in TV. In some sense you are „forced“ to use them. And in some sense it is ok, as long as one party does not has to much power.

nolok 6y ago
FYI: Apple disallow you to redirect your users to subscribe outside of their app without their fee. You cannot tell your users "go to our website to subscribe by check for 30% less", that gets you banned. So yes, you are forced to use them. > 3.1.1 In-App Purchase: If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, (by way of example: subscriptions, in-game currencies, game levels, access to premium content, or unlocking a full version), you must use in-app purchase. Apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, etc. Apps and their metadata may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase. Also, I don't know how common it is in the US but in the EU and here in France we have "prélèvement" (~bank direct debit ?) Eg I (virtually, on my computer) sign an agreement for company X to take amount Y from my bank account every Z amount of time for a given service. It takes less than a minute to setup and sign directly on the provider website (no need to contact or connect to my bank). I can cancel it at any time through the provider or at my bank. Since a couple of years they are valid in the entire EU accross countries "prélèvement SEPA" (Single Euro Payments Area). They're entirely free, for the customer AND the one billing them (there are bank fees depending on your bank, but no interchange fee, eg I use them to charge many of my customer and it costs me a flat fee of 25e/month for the web access). That's how I pay my amazon prime, my amazon purchases, my electricity bill, my mobile phone bill, ... So a certain swedish music company could bill me in france that way for virtually no fee.
- nodamage 6y ago
  I paid for Spotify directly with a credit card on their website and then logged into my existing account inside the app. So, by definition, I wasn't forced to subscribe through Apple. It's true that you're not allowed to advertise that you can do this inside the app itself, but that's not the same as saying you're not allowed to do it at all.
  - benzoate 6y ago
    Spotify even ran an email campaign to tell users that they can save money paying outside the App Store.
ableal 6y ago
> have to pay your Spotify subscription by cash or checks. Not a good example - Spotify takes PayPal, which can be topped up from a bank account transfer, trivially done with the bank app or site. https://support.spotify.com/us/article/payment-methods/ https://support.spotify.com/us/article/payment-methods/ (just learned there's also "pay by mobile" which adds it to your phone bill ...)
- nolok 6y ago
  Paypal also support the SEPA bank direct debit I mentionned above as a source of funds, meaning you don't even have to initiate a bank transfer they do it for you and it's instant. Bank account -> paypal -> spotify, in one or two clicks and no waiting time.

nolok 6y ago

FYI: Apple disallow you to redirect your users to subscribe outside of their app without their fee. You cannot tell your users "go to our website to subscribe by check for 30% less", that gets you banned. So yes, you are forced to use them. > 3.1.1 In-App Purchase: If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, (by way of example: subscriptions, in-game currencies, game levels, access to premium content, or unlocking a full version), you must use in-app purchase. Apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, etc. Apps and their metadata may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase. Also, I don't know how common it is in the US but in the EU and here in France we have "prélèvement" (~bank direct debit ?) Eg I (virtually, on my computer) sign an agreement for company X to take amount Y from my bank account every Z amount of time for a given service. It takes less than a minute to setup and sign directly on the provider website (no need to contact or connect to my bank). I can cancel it at any time through the provider or at my bank. Since a couple of years they are valid in the entire EU accross countries "prélèvement SEPA" (Single Euro Payments Area). They're entirely free, for the customer AND the one billing them (there are bank fees depending on your bank, but no interchange fee, eg I use them to charge many of my customer and it costs me a flat fee of 25e/month for the web access). That's how I pay my amazon prime, my amazon purchases, my electricity bill, my mobile phone bill, ... So a certain swedish music company could bill me in france that way for virtually no fee.

nodamage 6y ago
I paid for Spotify directly with a credit card on their website and then logged into my existing account inside the app. So, by definition, I wasn't forced to subscribe through Apple. It's true that you're not allowed to advertise that you can do this inside the app itself, but that's not the same as saying you're not allowed to do it at all.
- benzoate 6y ago
  Spotify even ran an email campaign to tell users that they can save money paying outside the App Store.

ableal 6y ago

> have to pay your Spotify subscription by cash or checks. Not a good example - Spotify takes PayPal, which can be topped up from a bank account transfer, trivially done with the bank app or site. https://support.spotify.com/us/article/payment-methods/ https://support.spotify.com/us/article/payment-methods/ (just learned there's also "pay by mobile" which adds it to your phone bill ...)

nolok 6y ago
Paypal also support the SEPA bank direct debit I mentionned above as a source of funds, meaning you don't even have to initiate a bank transfer they do it for you and it's instant. Bank account -> paypal -> spotify, in one or two clicks and no waiting time.