Apple finds another way to block Spotify’s app in the EU

Even though the Digital Markets Act came into force on November 1, 2022, certain gatekeepers designated by the European Commission had until March 2024 to comply with the new regulations.

Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and ByteDance are the six major companies that have been given more time to make any necessary changes to their business models in order to comply with the new set of rules and obligations.

Unfortunately, even after being fined, some of these companies are trying to delay the inevitable. Apple was recently fined $2 billion in the EU following complaints from Spotify over App Store rules.

But that didn't seem to convince Apple that the EU was serious about the DMA, which is why the Cupertino giant decided to find another way to prevent Spotify from informing its customers about the prices of its services, nor to allow customers to purchase subscriptions directly from the service provider.

In an email addressed to the European Commission obtained by The edgeSpotify complains that Apple has “neither acknowledged nor responded to Spotify's submission“, thus preventing the streaming company from updating the app for its users.

The Spotify app update was submitted to Apple on March 5, but was neither approved nor rejected by the latter.

According to Spotify, Apple claims to process reviews and app submissions within 24 hours. The fact that the update was submitted almost 10 days ago essentially means that Apple is trying to circumvent the European Commission's decision.

This is not the first time that Apple has challenged the Digital Markets Act. The company revoked Epic Games' developer license after a tweet posted by CEO Tim Sweeney criticizing Apple.

Fortunately, Epic Games got its developer license back a few days later, after the European Commission reviewed the matter.