Apple rejects Spotify's app update, Spotify calls approval process a 'weapon'

Apple has rejected an update to Spotify's iOS iPhone app, and Spotify is crying foul. 

In a letter sent to Apple's top lawyer on June 26 and obtained by Recode, Spotify general counsel Horacio Gutierrez said that Apple cited "business model rules" for turning down an update to its iOS app. But according to the site, Gutierrez considers the move anti-competitive, and used his letter to suggest that Apple was using its approval process to hurt competitors of Apple Music.

"This latest episode raises serious concerns under both U.S. and EU competition law," he wrote, according to Recode. "It continues a troubling pattern of behavior by Apple to exclude and diminish the competitiveness of Spotify on iOS and as a rival to Apple Music, particularly when seen against the backdrop of Apple’s previous anticompetitive conduct aimed at Spotify … we cannot stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon to harm competitors."

Apple's reason for rejecting the update seemed to stem from a promotion whereby new subscribers could sign up for Spotify for $0.99  if they signed up on Spotify's website. According to Recode, Spotify was attempting to promote the campaign inside the app when Apple threatened to remove the app from its store. 

Apps have been barred from sending users to sign-up for services outside of an app since 2011. If a subscription service wants to charge users inside its app, it must use the iTunes billing service. Apple takes a 30 percent cut of in-app purchases.

While the streaming service complied and stopped promoting the campaign inside the app, it turned off its App Store billing option, according to Recode. 

In a statement on Thursday, Jake Ward, president and CEO of the Application Developers Alliance, said Apple was "deliberately creating friction." 

“For the app marketplace to continue to thrive, users to have choices, and developers to have a competitive opportunity, platforms must give publishers clear and consistent guidelines," he wrote. "Platforms deliberately creating friction and obstacles between publishers and users is bad for business and ultimately hurts consumers.”

A representative for Apple did not respond to Mashable's request for comment. Spotify declined to comment on the record.

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