Google is expanding its User Choice Billing (UCB) beta program with Spotify among early participants. It now officially allows customers of the music platform to set up service payments outside of the Google Play Store.
Back in MarchGoogle teamed up with Spotify to launch the program by giving people the ability to use different payment options. UCB was first available to users in Japan, Australia, and several European countries. Now it comes to the United States, Brazil and South Africa after Google has acquired Positive response and [feedback]From the first round (Opens in a new tab). In the coming weeks, Spotify will roll out a third-party payment option for Android users only, so they can choose how they want to pay for the Premium subscription.
open and fair platform
After it is rolled out, people who want to subscribe to Spotify Premium . will see Another option is to use the private platform service instead (Opens in a new tab). The main difference so far is that you can’t track your Spotify billing subscription, while you can with Google. Otherwise, it’s business as usual: you enter your credit card information for payment and you’re done.
Google currently allows other non-game apps on the Play Store to Register for the UCB Pilot Program (Opens in a new tab). Developers must follow Specific user experience guidelines (Opens in a new tab) created by Google detailing how to implement the feature. Looking at the instructions, developers should include an information selection and billing page whenever a user attempts to purchase a service. The displayed price must be up front and in the middle.
The full list of UCB participants is unknown, but we know that the dating app Bumble will soon join the program “in select countries.” [within] the coming months.”
Spotify says it supports UCB because it sees the software as “Google [allowing] More choices and competition” on the Play Store. The company wants more app platform fairness in order to thrive and “give users of [the free service] The ability to subscribe and make purchases directly [on the] Application.”
We asked Google what it hopes to achieve with UCB specifically for users, as well as why gaming apps are currently excluded from the program. This story will be updated if we hear back.
The future of app stores
As for Apple and the popular App Store, we highly doubt users will see anything like UCB remotely. Apple has made it very clear that it does not like third-party payment options in the App Store. Recently forced Telegram to eliminate iOS users Creating Paid Posts Because the Tech Giant Didn’t Get a Cut. then there Apple court battle 2021 With Epic Games after Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store due to similar actions.
Change, however, may be inevitable. The open market law It is an antitrust bill aimed at preventing both Google and Apple “from engaging in harmful behavior toward their competitors”. Google seems more willing to play better, but it remains to be seen if and when Apple will decide to do the same.