Spotify and Google agree to implement user-choice billing

By Cristina Alexander Published May 10, 2022

Spotify and Google have announced Wednesday that they have entered into a multiyear agreement that involves user-choice billing. For the first time ever, users who have downloaded Spotify from the Google Play Store will be able to choose between paying with Spotify’s payment system or Google Play Billing — two payment options that will live within the app.

Google said in its blog post that it chose Spotify as its “natural first partner” to explore the user-choice approach to billing, as the music platform is deemed to be one of the largest subscription developers with a global footprint and a wide range of integrations across various device form factors. On top of that, Spotify has been advocating for expanded payment options for quite some time, and it will be working with Google to see how user-choice billing works in different countries and with developers of various sizes and categories.

Recommended Videos

“Spotify is on a years-long journey to ensure app developers have the freedom to innovate and compete on a level playing field,” said Alex Norström, Spotify’s chief freemium business officer. “We’re excited to be partnering with Google to explore this approach to payment choice and opportunities for developers, users, and the entire internet ecosystem. We hope the work we’ll do together blazes a path that will benefit the rest of the industry.”

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Spotify is one of a small number of app developers that will be allowed to offer its own billing to their subscribers, but Google didn’t mention what other apps will have that privilege. Google also didn’t give a specific timeline for implementing user-choice billing, nor did it mention which countries it will be rolled out to.

The user-choice billing move comes one day after Spotify announced it will move its live audio conversation product Greenroom to the main app and rebrand it as Spotify Live. That change will take place in the second quarter of 2022.

Topics

Cristina Alexander

Gaming/Mobile Writer

Cristina Alexander is a gaming and mobile writer at Digital Trends. She blends fair coverage of games industry topics that…

Mobile

This powerful Oura Ring feature knows if you’re getting sick

A person holding the Oura Ring 4.

A powerful feature previously trialed in the Oura Ring’s beta program has been fully released and is available to all wearers of the smart ring. It’s called Symptom Radar, and it examines key data points collected while you sleep and acts as an early warning system for the onset of respiratory illnesses. Yes, the Oura Ring really will be able to tell if you’re getting sick.

Most importantly, it’s really easy to immediately understand the Symptom Radar’s findings, as it will report back every morning using three distinct levels: No signs, minor signs of a respiratory illness, and major signs of a respiratory illness. The data will be plotted onto a graph so you can track your wellness over time and observe how symptoms may be evolving.

News

Two features from the new Kindle Scribe are coming to the older model

The back of the Amazon Kindle Scribe.

The Kindle Scribe, Amazon's e-reader with handwriting input, was updated this October along with three more Kindle models. Although the 2024 Scribe visually resembles the first-generation model from two years ago, the former offers better annotation features and AI summaries. With a recent update, Amazon is eliminating the gap between the two generations and bringing these features to the older model.

The older Kindle Scribe model recently received an update that added two new features, Good e-Reader reported. The additions include Active Canvas, which allows you to scribble notes anywhere on a book from your Kindle library, just like you would on a physical book. When you do so, your jottings appear in a resizable box, anchored to that part of the text, and stay there even when you resize the font. Previously, notes would appear on the top of a particular page, which could make things confusing if you had multiple comments referring to different sections of the page.

Mobile

Specs for a budget OnePlus Android tablet just leaked, and they look great

Open Canvas on OnePlus Pad 2 that is also being used as a Windows monitor.

Get ready for a potential game-changer in the budget tablet market. A recent leak from Digital Chat Station, shared by Android Authority, suggests that OnePlus is preparing to launch a new “Standard Edition” tablet with impressive features.

This tablet may feature a large 11.6-inch display with a smooth 144Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 2,800 x 2,000 pixels. It is expected to be powered by a new MediaTek Dimensity 8350 processor. It will also come equipped with a substantial 9,520mAh battery that supports 67-watt fast charging, ensuring extended usage hours. So far, all are very promising specs.