Five years ago, Spotify made a complaint about the App Store and how it operates. The European Commission has just made a decision which will see Apple fined €1.84 billion, which is around $2 billion.
Apple got in trouble with the European Union for how it runs its App Store. They were fined €1.84 billion, or about $2 billion, for not letting music apps tell users about cheaper deals outside the App Store. This means if there’s a cheaper way to get music through another service, Apple wasn’t letting you know.
The EU Commission, which looks into these things, said Apple had been doing this for ten years. They said Apple was stopping app developers from telling you about cheaper options for music, which is against the rules. Spotify, one of Apple’s competitors, said Apple’s rules hurt them. They said Apple wouldn’t let them tell their users about discounts or other benefits.
But Apple says the EU didn’t prove that anyone was hurt by their rules. This all started when Spotify complained about something called the “Apple Tax.” This is a fee Apple takes from apps that sell things through the App Store. Spotify thought this fee was unfair, and they also didn’t like how Apple controlled how they could talk to their users.
Apple prevent developers sharing certain information
The EU found that Apple’s rules were unfair because they stopped app developers from telling you about other ways to pay for things. So, if there’s a cheaper way to pay for something outside of Apple’s system, they couldn’t tell you about it. Apple has made some changes already. They said developers can now tell you about other ways to pay.
However, only through emails or by linking to their websites from the app. Some companies like Spotify say these changes aren’t enough. Now, Apple is getting ready to change its rules again because of something called the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This will allow other app stores on the iPhone for the first time.
Developers are still not happy with Apple’s new rules because they still have to pay fees to Apple. There are two sides of the argument. One being, it is Apple’s App Store and therefore, paying for certain features or access could be classed as fair. However, the other side is, Apple have restricted access for so long, these developers are owed.
