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Apple’s recent moves regarding its App Store have sparked an angry backlash against the company from several app developers, including tech giants like Meta and Spotify, who have accused the iPhone maker of using its market dominance to undercut its competitors.
Apple’s recent changes to its App Store policies have drawn the ire of several major app makers … [+]
Important facts
In a sharply worded blog post published Tuesday night, Spotify again accused Apple of anticompetitive behavior by applying “complicated and confusing” rules in its app store to disadvantage competitors.
Highlighting the issues it faced with the recent launch of audiobooks on its platform, Spotify said Apple – which also sells audiobooks – three times rejected the proposed purchase process in its app, forcing it to use a more cumbersome method.
Spotify claims the rules and Apple’s 30% commission on all in-app sales prevents it from displaying audiobook prices in its app because it has to force customers to request a payment link for the books via email.
Social media giant Meta also slammed Apple’s recent decision to charge a 30% commission on sales of “boosts” for social media posts – which will impact promoted content on Instagram and Facebook – by charging them social apps will be forced to use Apple’s own in-app payment system.
In a statement shared with The Verge, Meta accused Apple of “undercutting others in the digital economy” and failing to live up to its earlier promise not to cut developer ad revenue.
Meta argues that the biggest impact of this move by Apple will be felt by small businesses and influencers who rely on the Facebook app to promote their posts, rather than large advertisers working directly with the social giant.
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“Apple continues to put competitors at a disadvantage, and the impact is huge — on consumers, app developers, and now authors and publishers. …. I can’t be the only one who sees the absurdity,” says Spotify CEO Daniel Ek tweeted.
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Even though it has clashed with Facebook over advertising, Apple is trying to expand its own advertising business. Earlier this week, Apple started showing more ads in the iPhone App Store. However, several user and developer have raised concerns about the sheer volume of gambling ads appearing on the App Store following the update. Marco Arment, former Chief Technology Officer of Tumblr and developer of the popular podcasting app Overcast, complained on Twitter that he “really disagreed” with gambling ads appearing on his app’s product page. “The App Store has corrupted such a great company so deeply,” added Arment. John Gruber, who writes the Apple-focused blog Daring Fireball tweeted: “If those App Store ads were in our email inboxes, we’d all be flagging every single one of them as spam.”
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Both Meta and Spotify have clashed with Apple several times over the past few years over its App Store policies. Earlier this year, Meta acknowledged that it expects a $10 billion hit from Apple’s recent sweeping privacy changes, which weaken the effectiveness of targeted advertising by limiting tracking of user behavior across multiple apps. Apple has tried to position itself as an advocate of user privacy, but critics have argued that it’s simply trying to grab its share of the online advertising business, which is dominated by its rivals Meta and Google. Also Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk, who is in the process of buying Twitter expressed concern on Apple’s recent changes to the App Store – changes that will almost certainly impact Twitter’s business. Spotify has often clashed with Apple over its dual role as arbiter of rules in the App Store and as a competitor to other app makers. Spotify has long argued that Apple’s 30 percent commission on in-app sales gives its own services like Apple Music advantages over third-party competitors. In 2020, the EU announced that it had opened an investigation into Apple’s alleged anti-competitive practices. The investigations are still ongoing.
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Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live event on Tuesday, Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, argued that recent changes will drive innovation in the online advertising space, saying, “We felt that over the long term quality advertising and product privacy could coexist if there were innovation, some by us, some by others.” Federighi acknowledged that Apple remains uncertain about the short-term impact of its moves.
Further reading
Developers Complain About Gambling Ads in Their App Store Listings (MacRumors)
Apple’s new tax on App Store ads is a direct shot at Meta (The Verge)
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