In this way, the company wants to test whether Apple will violate EU antitrust laws.
Earlier, the European Commission fined Apple $2 billion following a complaint from Spotify on «blocking» alternative music programs. The EU recognized that the company violated antitrust laws by prohibiting app developers from informing users about third-party options for purchasing subscriptions (in particular, by placing ads or links to websites in apps or via emails).
It was previously reported that the EU may impose a fine on Apple in the amount of $542.6 million — less than a third of the final amount. However, the Commission chose a larger financial penalty as a «deterrent» to prevent the violation from happening again, which is what Spotify wants to check. Soon, the iOS app should have prices and links to third-party sites for paying for Spotify purchases — if Apple approves this update.
In January, Spotify announced own payment system inside the applicationto which Apple responded new fees and restrictions — developers who wish to take advantage of alternative apps for iOS apps must go through an approval process and pay Apple a «core technology fee» that will charge 50 euro cents per installation when the app reaches 1 million downloads per year.
Source: The Verge, TechCrunch