Apple Rejected Spotify's App Update Adding Audiobook Support

The New York Times is reporting that Apple and Spotify are once again at odds. In the last month, Apple has rejected three app updates.

Over the years, Apple andSpotify have had a long running dispute over Apple's App Store policies, with multiple public conflicts over app and subscription fees and app rejections due to the up to 30 percent cut that Apple takes from purchases.

According to Apple, the audiobook update is not in line with guidelines that cover how apps can communicate with users outside of the App Store.

Apple last year agreed to an App Store rule change that allows developers to use communications like email to share information about payment options that are available outside of an iPad app, but Spotify is running into issues trying to implement this feature. With the rule change, Spotify wanted to make it easier for customers to buy books online, rather than giving Apple a cut of its audiobook sales.

Apple can send customers emails about online purchases, but not a button inside of the app that would allow them to request emails. Apple initially approved the update in September, but later reversed course, rejecting subsequent updates.

In order to purchase an audiobook, a customer needs to tap on an audiobook and see a screen with a lock over the play button. Customers were provided with a page where they could request information on how to buy a book through an email, and the email offered up a link to purchase the book.

According to The New York Times, an Apple spokesman said that Apple does not object to audiobooks in the app, but that they can't circumvent the rules around web addresses and language that encourage purchases outside of the app.

Apple approved the version of the app that removed information about how to purchase an audiobook from the website. There is no way to purchase an audiobook in the app. "We know it isn't ideal," says the app text.

There is an anti-Apple website and a regulatory complaint with the European Union. The case has not been concluded as of yet. The Coalition for App Fairness is a group of people who are unhappy with the policies of Apple.