What's the bad blood going on between Spotify and Apple ahead of the DMA?
Apple received almost $2 billion fine from European lawmakers over Spotify's complaint.
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Key notes
- Spotify and Apple are in a legal dispute over app updates despite the DMA ruling.
- The streaming platform wants to add pricing info to its app, but Apple hasn’t responded.
- Apple is one of the tech giants designated as “gatekeepers” under this new law.
Spotify and Apple have been in a legal battle for quite some time. The popular streaming service is apparently not happy that Apple isn’t allowing updates to their app, even after the European Digital Market Act (DMA) ruling mandated changes to allow Spotify to show alternative subscription info.
Folks over at The Verge revealed an email sent by Spotify to the European Commission this week, saying that Apple has not responded to its submissions to bring pricing information into the app. To comply with DMA, Apple was required to open up its app store and allow app developers to have alternative ways to distribute their applications.
Earlier this month, Spotify submitted an update to Apple for their EU app. This update contains links to Spotify’s site and pricing information for different subscription choices, avoiding Apple’s payment method. But Spotify has not really heard anything back since then.
Apple is yet to release a statement. The Cupertino tech giant has also been fined almost $2 billion by the European Commission earlier this year, following complaints about its “abusive” app store practices from Spotify.
Apple is one of the companies designated as “gatekeepers” under the DMA, besides Microsoft, Amazon, ByteDance (TikTok owner), Alphabet (Google’s parent company), and Meta.
Since then, companies have adjusted their products to adhere to the regulation. For instance, Apple expanded its app store ecosystem, while Microsoft enabled users to uninstall Microsoft Edge normally and opt for a different chat provider in Windows 11, rather than Copilot.
