Google will test allowing Android developers to use their own billing systems

Google is introducing a pilot project to allow a “small number of participating developers” to offer a payment system in addition to Google Play. Spotify will be the first and will use both Google Play’s billing system and its own system.

“This pilot project will help us understand whether and how user choice billing works for users in different countries and for developers of different sizes and categories,” said Google’s Samir Samat. Said in a blog post. It is unclear how many developers will be part of the program or when the ability for more developers to use third-party billing systems will become more widely available. We asked Google if they could share more information.

Samat says the feature depends on his plans to enable Additional billing systems in South Koreawhich is what Google did in response to the legislation Spent in South Korea last year. Apple must also allow third-party payment systems in the country due to legislation and the company I pledged it.

Apple and Google have come under fire from developers and lawmakers over the fees they charge for purchases made in their stores. Spotify has been an outspoken critic of Apple’s App Store fees Since yearseven filing an antitrust complaint “Apple Taxes” against the company in 2019. So it’s no surprise that the company is Google’s first known partner in this new initiative.

at BlogSpotify has detailed what users can expect from the new systems when they become available:

Users who have downloaded Spotify from the Google Play Store will have the option to pay with Spotify’s payment system or with Google Play billing. For the first time, these two options will live side by side in the app. This will give everyone the freedom to sign up and make purchases using the payment option of their choice directly within the Spotify app. Spotify will continue to freely communicate with users about our premium subscription service, promote discounts and promotions, and give our free tier listeners the option to upgrade to Premium directly within the app.

Over the next few months, Spotify will be working with the product and engineering teams at Google to create this new experience, and we’ll roll it out to countries around the world. Working together, companies will experience, learn, and jointly explore product innovations on the Android platform. We plan to launch the first iteration of User Choice billing later this year.

It’s unclear whether Apple plans to allow third-party payment systems outside South Korea in response to Google’s announcement on Wednesday. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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