Spotify is struggling to get Apple to approve its iOS updates in the EU

By Jess Weatherbed , a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews.

Spotify submitted a new version of its iOS app that should give users in the European Union in-app pricing information for subscriptions made outside of Apple’s payment system — provided the update doesn’t get stonewalled by Apple again.

According to TechCrunch, the latest version of the app doesn’t contain a direct link to subscription plans on Spotify’s website, something the company hoped would allow it to skirt the 30 percent cut Apple takes on subscriptions made via the App Store. Instead, EU users will be directed to manually visit Spotify’s website via a web browser in order to purchase cheaper subscription plans.

A previous version of the app that did contain website links was submitted by Spotify last month. Apple didn’t approve the update and “neither acknowledged nor responded” to the submission, according to Spotify. The company says the latest version it’s trying to get approved features the “bare minimum” pricing and website information, as outlined under the European Commission ruling that fined Apple €1.84 billion (about $2 billion).

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