Reports yesterday of Spotify adding in-app purchases for subscriptions back on iPhone have been debunked by Spotify’s global head of corporate and policy communications.
Speaking to The Verge after new code was spotted in the Spotify app on iOS with an in-app payment system including a checkout screen, Farshad Shadloo said, “We have no plans to switch IAP [in-app payments] on at the moment.”
Spotify removed the ability to subscribe to Spotify Premium in 2016 in an effort to avoid Apple’s 30% commission for purchases made through apps on the App Store. Earlier this year, Spotify migrated those subscribers over to its payment system.
Spotify’s dispute with Apple creates friction in the Spotify app experience on iOS with no ability to buy audiobooks, similar to how Amazon Kindle users can’t purchase content in the Kindle app on their Apple devices.
While reports yesterday seemed to hint that there was a slight shift in the relationship between Spotify and Apple, it looks like there won’t be any changes to the way you pay for Spotify Premium on iPhone anytime soon.
Earlier this week, Spotify revealed that 17% of its workforce were to be laid off, roughly 1,500 employees. This is the third announcement of job cuts this year for the company, which is looking to find a remedy to its continued financial losses.
No IAP for now
While the lack of in-app purchases in the Spotify app is inconvenient for Apple users who use the green and black streaming service, it’s something we’ve become accustomed to over the years.
It would be ideal to see all subscriptions like Spotify Premium inside Settings on your iPhone, but for now, it looks like we’ll have to keep tabs on our Spotify login details and use the company’s website for all future payments.
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