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Spotify and Google Announce User Choice Billing
251–260 of 392 posts
Re: Spotify and Google Announce User Choice Billing
#252This may sound like a snippy question, but I'm genuinely curious as to why this is considered news? Isn't this just getting another payment option, similar to what many, many other services have been offering for over a decade? Seriously, am I missing something?
Both the Apple App Store and (I believe) the Google Play Store have requirements that any digital goods purchased through an app that's distributed through the App/Play store use the payment system provided by Apple/Google, which takes a 30% cut in most cases.
This is a big deal because both Apple and Google have been fighting to keep that 30% cut for years, despite the fact that neither company is really providing much value as a payments provider; they're just extracting rent from their monopoly position as the distributor for apps in iPhone/Android land.
Re: Spotify and Google Announce User Choice Billing
#253Earlier quoted context omitted.
For Spotify in particular, I'd rather have more money going to Google instead of Spotify. Because I don't want to be funding Joe Rogan.
If you really wanted that you'd just not use Spotify at all.
A silly response. It's much easier to not do anything than it is to move my music ecosystem somewhere else.
Re: Spotify and Google Announce User Choice Billing
#254"Over the coming months, Spotify will work with Google’s product and engineering teams to build this new experience" It's so absolutely bizarre to announce something at this stage. I wonder what is prompting it.
I suspect this is entirely for the benefit of PR between internal management. Announcing this at all doesn't make much sense, let alone when you don't actually have it. What's a customer supposed to do with the information, and when is a user even likely to see this? I use Spotify for hours every day, I do not follow their news outlets. So I imagine it's just for internal signalling/prosperity.
Re: Spotify and Google Announce User Choice Billing
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s usually fairly simple though. You (as a dev) don’t have to front the cost for support folks to handle it.
You still have to answer the emails and say "Sorry no I cannot refund you, go ask Apple" and have the customer not believe you.
Actually, on the flip side Apple customers have usually gone through this before already. It's usually the Google folks we have issues with.
Re: Spotify and Google Announce User Choice Billing
#256Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Assuming google works like Apple (correct me if I am wrong) While subscription cancellations work similarly, Apple holds your hand (from a dev perspective) than Google does. Apple's overall approach seems to just make sense. For instance: if you stop offering a particular plan because you don't want to offer it anymore (e.g. no more yearly plans, only monthly and quarterly). With Apple, you get a notification that…
How much does Google communicate to the user with this? One big benefit I didn't mention, is any yearly membership I get a communication from Apple that it is about to renew. Reminding me to cancel if I no longer want to use it. I don't know of a single service I have subscribed too directly that does this. Edit: I remembered one. FFXIV oddly enough reminds me every month that they are about to bill.
I'm not really sure. I know some services I've used in the past like Harvest and TaxBot send before-the-renewed notices. Services that used Stripe did not.
Re: Spotify and Google Announce User Choice Billing
#257As a user, why would I choose this? I only see a benefit to developers for this, but from a user prospective going with another system is a downgrade. Assuming google works like Apple (correct me if I am wrong), disabling a subscription should be able to happen from a central location with a click or 2. If I instead go with the billing through a company not only do they now have my credit card information, but I have…
Counter point, Google deleted your account for no reason.
Re: Spotify and Google Announce User Choice Billing
#258Earlier quoted context omitted.
If we want to make the situation better for customers then companies like Apple and Google should provide subscription management/payment API for IAPs for free to developers so developers are incentivized to use the centralized platform. Customers can manage and cancel payments through that centralized platform. The only reason developers come up with these roundabout methods for payment is because of the massive fee…
Well even with all the available competition most developers seem to consider the 30% fee on Steam fair enough to host their games there. So maybe that 15/30% is not as ‘massive’ as one might think, especially considering that the app store model was massive improvement over what existed before them. Not that I’m a huge fan of closed ecosystems in general, but I’m not sure the government should dictate what sort of s…
Governments regulate all sorts of features on all sorts of products: building codes, electrical codes, car mpg requirements, how planes work, tax requirements, how corporations are allowed to function, the rights of citizens, ...
Why should software get a free pass?
Re: Spotify and Google Announce User Choice Billing
#259Imagine being a member of a duopoly with a fairly locked-down market and then releasing the ability to pay another way as a revolutionary "feature" worthy of a press release
Re: Spotify and Google Announce User Choice Billing
#260Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just like the application developers on Google Play, Apple's app store, and Steam, eh?
There are plenty of different platforms besides Spotify which have comparable catalogs and are available on all/most platforms (even Apple Music has an Android app). Their subscription prices are almost the same so the market seems to be very competitive and nothing like the iOS App Store.
Similar prices could also suggest cartel-like behaviour