After being slammed for their actions by a US judge Apple has finally relented and moved to allow an update that allows iOS and Apple customers consumers to support third parties such as Spotify by buying services directly from Companies without having to pay Apple a massive commission.

The move came after a US federal judge ordered the tech giant to stop charging commission on purchases made through apps – threatening possible criminal contempt proceedings.

Late last week US Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled Apple wilfully violated a 2021 injunction from a case involving Epic Games and held the company in contempt of court.

The ruling means that Spotify can now have subscription links within the iOS app in the US that allow users to make payments externally, bypassing all Apple payment systems.

The company made the announcement last night after it immediately sent out an update to its app, which Apple had to approve following the court’s orders.

With this update, users can now see all Spotify plans and promotions within the app and click on them to go to an external payment page.

One observer told ChannelNews that “Users who don’t want to support Apple’s fee gouging” can now  bypass Apple’s payment system, which, charged a 30% fee on top of the plan charges with Companies now pushing consumers to “go direct” for apps and not “via the Apple web site”.

Apple can also no longer charge a 27% fee for external payments made nor show scare-screens to the user when they click on external links, as per the court orders.

Spotify claimed in a blog post. “After nearly a decade, this will finally allow us to freely show clear pricing information and links to purchase, fostering transparency and choice for US consumers,” Spotify said, calling it a “victory for consumers, artists, creators and authors.”

Judge Rogers claimed that Apple’s vice president of finance, Alex Roman, “outright lied” to the court about the timing of a 27% fee on certain purchases linked to its App Store.

She ordered Apple to stop imposing the commission on purchases made through links in iPhone apps, adding that she passed the matter to US attorneys to investigate whether to pursue criminal contempt proceedings on Roman and the company.

Apple said it will comply with Rogers’ decision, though it “strongly” disagrees and will appeal the ruling.

In a 2021 decision from the Epic Games case, which was appealed in 2023, Rogers ordered Apple to make changes to its app store – allowing developers to link to their own websites inside iPhone apps, so customers could make purchases outside of the Apple system.

Under this original ruling, it was expected that Apple would not level commissions on off-app purchases, Rogers wrote.

But in 2024, Apple introduced a new policy so it could collect a 27% fee from some of those purchases – barely less than the 30% it collects on in-app purchases.