On May 2, 2025, Apple approved a U.S. version of Spotify’s iPhone app that could show Premium prices and promotions and link customers to Spotify’s website to start or change a subscription. The approval followed a federal judge’s April 30 finding that Apple had willfully violated the injunction in Epic Games v. Apple. It changed how U.S. users could find and pay for Spotify plans; it did not make Spotify free, guarantee lower prices, or end Apple’s App Store payment rules worldwide.
What Apple approved
Spotify said the approved U.S. update allowed the app to display current Premium pricing and promotional information, then send users to Spotify’s own website for checkout. The web route could be used to:
- Start a Premium subscription from a free account.
- Upgrade to Premium.
- Switch among Individual, Student, Duo and Family plans, where the account and location were eligible.
- Use payment methods handled outside Apple’s in-app purchase system.
The app could therefore show the offer and provide the path to purchase, while Spotify’s website handled the transaction. Spotify described the change in its May 2025 announcement. The update did not restore Apple in-app purchasing for Spotify subscriptions.
TechCrunch reported that the rollout began with Spotify version 9.0.40. That was a version reported at the time, not a permanent requirement; app versions and feature rollouts change.
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Why Apple approved the links
This was an enforcement development in Epic Games v. Apple, not a voluntary global redesign of the App Store. The court’s original injunction, issued on September 10, 2021, addressed Apple’s restrictions on developer communications about alternative purchasing methods and links to external checkout.
On April 30, 2025, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found that Apple had willfully violated that injunction and had added barriers to the required changes. Apple said it would comply while disagreeing with the ruling and intending to appeal, as reported at the time by TechCrunch.
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Apple’s developer-news page recorded an App Review Guidelines update on May 1, 2025. The entry concerned buttons, external links and other calls to action for apps distributed through the U.S. App Store storefront: Apple Developer News. The change should not be read as a ruling that Apple was an illegal monopoly on every issue raised by Epic; the relevant step here was enforcement of the injunction governing external purchase communications.
Key dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 10, 2021 | The original Epic Games injunction was issued. |
| April 30, 2025 | Judge Rogers found Apple in willful violation of the injunction and ordered immediate changes. |
| May 1, 2025 | Apple updated its U.S. App Store guideline language; Spotify submitted its revised app. |
| May 2, 2025 | Spotify announced that Apple had approved the update. |
| May 19, 2025 | Spotify added details about audiobook purchases and additional listening hours. |
What U.S. iPhone users could do
For a user on the U.S. App Store storefront, the practical difference was that plan information could appear inside Spotify instead of requiring an independent search for Spotify’s website. A user could compare tiers or an advertised promotion, tap the link, sign in on the web and complete billing with Spotify’s checkout.
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- Open the App Store and search for Spotify.
- Install any available Spotify update, then sign in.
- Open the subscription or purchase information offered in the app.
- Review the plan, eligibility terms, taxes and total on Spotify’s website before paying.
- Keep the confirmation from the service that processed the transaction.
A web purchase is managed through Spotify’s account and billing systems. Cancellation, receipts, refunds and payment updates may therefore be handled differently from an Apple-billed subscription, and a web subscription may not appear in Apple’s usual subscriptions-management screen.
If you already pay Apple
An existing Apple-billed Spotify subscription is a different billing relationship from a new web subscription. Moving channels can require cancelling the Apple renewal and waiting for the paid period to end before starting web billing. Check Spotify’s current account instructions before changing anything so you do not create overlapping subscriptions.
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If the option is missing
- Confirm that the device uses the U.S. App Store storefront.
- Update Spotify and iOS.
- Check whether your account is already billed through Apple.
- Remember that Spotify can limit a promotion by country, account history, plan type or eligibility.
Did Spotify become cheaper?
The external transaction was outside Apple’s standard in-app purchase flow. Contemporary coverage described that as allowing Spotify to avoid Apple’s usual in-app payment commission on that transaction. That does not mean Spotify had to pass the entire avoided amount to customers. The final price can still reflect Spotify’s own pricing, taxes, payment processing, currency, promotions and account eligibility.
It is also too broad to say that Apple no longer received any money connected with linked-out purchases. Later litigation material described a disputed 27% commission on certain linked-out transactions and transactions occurring within seven days after an external-link tap. The figure appears in Apple’s party filing, not a neutral final judgment, so it should not be treated as the settled long-term rule: Supreme Court docket filing.
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What the change did not mean
- It was not a worldwide Spotify feature rollout. The initial permission covered apps in the U.S. App Store storefront.
- It did not guarantee a lower Premium price for every customer.
- It did not mean every Spotify purchase was supported through the same link; the first announcement focused on subscriptions.
- It did not eliminate Spotify’s web-payment costs, taxes or provider fees.
- It did not end Apple’s App Store rules or settle all appeals and later fee disputes.
Apple’s in-app system can provide centralized purchase history, parental controls and Apple’s refund process. A web transaction may instead require dealing directly with Spotify, which can be more flexible but places billing, fraud and refund support in a different system.
United States versus other regions
The court-driven permission was U.S.-specific. European Union and European Economic Area users operate under separate Digital Markets Act obligations and Apple entitlement rules, while other countries can have different storefront policies, fees and availability. Spotify’s earlier ability to show some pricing information in parts of Europe was based on a different legal and policy framework; it should not be treated as the same change.
The later audiobook expansion
In a May 19 update to its announcement, Spotify said the opening also covered pricing for individual audiobooks and purchases of additional listening hours. Spotify described “Top Up” hours beyond the 15 monthly hours included with Premium. Audiobook catalog, tax, account and regional rules can differ from subscription rules, so the presence of a link does not guarantee that every title or top-up is available to every U.S. user.
Why the approval mattered beyond Spotify
The immediate consumer effect was greater price transparency and a shorter path to Spotify’s own checkout. For developers, the decision showed that a major app could communicate external purchase options in the U.S. App Store after court enforcement. Whether other services adopt similar links, and what fees Apple may ultimately charge for linked-out transactions, remained dependent on continuing litigation, Apple’s rules and each company’s commercial choices.
The Bottom Line
Apple’s May 2, 2025 approval let the U.S. Spotify app show prices and promotions and link to Spotify’s website for subscription and, later, certain audiobook purchases. It expanded consumer choice in the United States without guaranteeing savings, restoring Apple billing or changing App Store payment rules globally.
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