, Columnist
Apple Traps Consumers in an App Store War
Fees for purchases complicate what should be easy transactions.
Where's the buy button?
Photographer: Jason Alden/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
There’s a growing backlash against the fees Apple Inc. and Google collect from their mobile app stores. This fight over money results in irritations for the rest of us.
Netflix Inc. recently stopped letting new subscribers sign up through the company’s iPhone and iPad apps, to avoid handing a cut of subscription revenue to Apple. The Netflix iOS app now has an option to log into an account, or … that’s it. There are no clues for people who haven’t subscribed already. Amazon.com Inc. for years has done the same on its iOS apps for Kindle and Prime Video, and people can’t buy Spotify Technology SA music subscriptions directly in the company’s iOS apps.