Netflix has dropped the ability for new customers on iOS devices to use the option of in-app purchase to subscribe to the streaming video service.
Netflix is further distancing itself from Apple’s iTunes tax bracket. Earlier this year, the streaming giant enabled iOS users in more than two dozen markets to bypass the iTunes payment method as part of an experiment. The company now tells VentureBeat that it has concluded the experiment and has incorporated the change globally.
“We no longer support iTunes as a method of payment for new members,” a Netflix spokesperson told VentureBeat. Existing members, however, can continue to use iTunes as a method of payment, the spokesperson added.
However, once a member’s service is cancelled for at least a month, they will be required to subscribe again via the Netflix website, and then log into the iOS app.
The streaming giant joins a growing number of subscription-based firms that are dropping in-app subscription capabilities to avoid handing over a 30% cut of the action to Apple. Companies that still offer in-app subscriptions are either taking a loss on their profits, or they have been forced to raise the price of an in-app subscription to recoup the loss.
Until now, music streaming service Spotify has probably been the best-known instance of this predicament, as it charged in-app Premium subscribers an additional $3 extra to make up for Apple’s cut. It eventually dropped the in-app buying option.