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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteOn August 14, 2024, Apple approved a Spotify iPhone update for users in the European Union that could display Premium prices, promotions and the price after a promotional period, and tell users that they could subscribe through Spotify’s website. It was a transparency change—not unrestricted in-app checkout. Apple’s fees and conditions for external transactions still applied, and the change was not a worldwide App Store policy reversal.
What changed for Spotify users in the EU
The approved iOS update gave Spotify permission to communicate information that Apple’s earlier App Store rules had restricted. Depending on country, plan and account status, an EU iPhone user could see:
- the price of a selected Premium plan;
- promotional pricing and other offer details;
- the regular price that would apply after a promotion ended; and
- information explaining that the subscription or another purchase could be made through Spotify’s website.
Spotify described the change in its announcement about the European Commission’s antitrust decision (Spotify newsroom). Prices can vary with the customer’s country, taxes, promotion, plan and billing status; Spotify’s support documentation says price and account changes are market- and plan-dependent (Spotify support).
What the update did not provide
It did not give Spotify a completely unrestricted “buy now” flow inside the app. The external purchase route remained subject to Apple’s entitlement terms and fees. Spotify called those charges “predatory,” but that is Spotify’s characterization, not a neutral finding. A user might still have to leave Spotify and use a browser to complete payment.
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| EU iPhone experience | After the August 14, 2024 approval |
|---|---|
| See plan and promotional prices | Allowed |
| See the post-promotion price | Allowed |
| Be told that Spotify’s website is a purchase option | Allowed, subject to Apple’s terms |
| Use an unrestricted in-app external checkout button | Not established under this arrangement |
| Receive the same behavior worldwide | No; the change was limited to users covered by the EU rules |
Why Apple approved it
The approval followed a dispute between Spotify and Apple and a European Commission enforcement action:
- Spotify complained to the Commission that Apple’s App Store rules prevented music-streaming services from explaining cheaper or alternative ways to subscribe.
- The Commission investigated Apple’s anti-steering restrictions—rules that limited what developers could say about prices, promotions and payment options outside an app.
- On March 4, 2024, the Commission fined Apple more than €1.8 billion and found that the restrictions harmed competition in music streaming. The formal decision is available from the European Commission.
- Apple created a Music Streaming Services Entitlement in response to that decision.
- Spotify submitted an update using the entitlement. Reporting said Apple rejected an April submission before approving the update on August 14 (April report; August report).
That sequence matters. Apple’s approval came amid a specific antitrust remedy and regulatory pressure; it was not necessarily an admission that Spotify’s broader policy arguments were correct.
What Spotify said users had been denied
Spotify’s account was that Apple prevented services from communicating basic commercial information, including prices, discounts, upgrade options, better-value payment methods, where to subscribe and benefits available outside the app. Spotify set out its expected EU changes in January 2024 (Spotify newsroom).
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For consumers, the immediate benefit was comparison: an EU user could learn what a plan cost before opening a browser, rather than seeing an app that provided no price or purchase direction. That could make a website subscription easier to evaluate, but it did not guarantee that Spotify’s web price would be lower in every country or for every account.
Apple’s defense
Apple argued that Spotify benefited from App Store distribution, review, software tools and infrastructure while paying Apple nothing for those services under its chosen arrangement. Apple also disputed Spotify’s description of the dispute as a simple consumer-price issue.
In Apple’s account, the App Store’s rules support security, privacy and continued platform investment. Apple said Spotify held 56% of Europe’s music-streaming market—an Apple-supplied figure, not an independent finding—and argued that Spotify had substantial market power. Its explanation of the dispute and the EU rules appears in Apple’s newsroom.
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How the Digital Markets Act fits in
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) provided the wider EU framework, but the Spotify approval should not be reduced to “the DMA added a price button.” Apple introduced several distinct policy mechanisms:
The music-streaming entitlement
This was created after the Commission’s music-streaming antitrust decision and was the route Spotify used for the August 2024 update.
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Apple separately introduced terms covering alternative distribution, payment processing and external purchase communications for developers operating under the DMA. Spotify chose the music-streaming entitlement instead of those broader terms. Apple’s developer overview describes the alternatives (Apple Developer).
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Later DMA enforcement
The Commission subsequently found Apple’s steering rules non-compliant with the DMA and ordered changes intended to let developers communicate and promote alternative offers more freely (European Commission announcement). That later enforcement is related context, but it is distinct from the August 2024 Spotify approval.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the change applied only in the EU
The EU had two legal triggers that did not operate globally: the Commission’s competition decision specifically addressing Apple’s music-streaming anti-steering rules, and the DMA’s obligations for designated gatekeepers. In August 2024, the United States had no equivalent rule producing the same App Store change, so Apple’s rules elsewhere remained different.
“Europe” is therefore imprecise shorthand. The relevant boundary was the European Union, not automatically the United Kingdom or every country in the wider European region. A user traveling outside the covered market could see a different experience, and the exact behavior could also vary by iPhone software, account and plan.
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What an EU subscriber should check
- Who bills you: an Apple-billed subscription and a subscription purchased on Spotify’s website can have different cancellation, refund, invoice and payment-management paths.
- Promotion terms: the displayed introductory price may not be the amount charged after the offer ends.
- Country and taxes: the amount shown depends on the market and applicable taxes.
- Checkout location: being told that the website is available is not the same as completing payment with one tap inside Spotify.
- Existing subscriptions: customers billed through Apple may need to manage cancellation or changes through Apple, while web-billed customers use Spotify.
What happened after the EU approval
The August 2024 event was historical, not a newly announced global policy. In a separate development, Spotify said on May 1, 2025 that Apple approved a U.S. update with pricing information and external purchase links after a U.S. court ruling (Spotify’s U.S. update). That event should not be folded into the original EU entitlement or treated as evidence that Apple had adopted one worldwide rule.
Apple’s current EU materials also describe multiple possible charges for external offer communications, including an initial acquisition fee, store-services charges and, under some arrangements, a Core Technology Commission. The applicable amount depends on the terms a developer accepts and how its app distributes and monetizes digital goods (communication terms; Core Technology Commission).
What this meant for competition
For Spotify, the practical gain was the ability to explain its offer and direct interested customers to a purchase channel. For Apple, the change preserved a role for its platform rules and fees while responding to a binding European enforcement environment. For competing digital services, the case established that access to customers can involve not only payment processing, but also the right to communicate prices and alternatives.
For consumers, the distinction is the key one: Apple gave EU iPhone users more information about Spotify’s prices and where to subscribe. It did not, in August 2024, give Spotify a fully unrestricted alternative checkout inside the app.
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