MUMBAI: For all iOS and Apple TV users, here’s an amazing news, you can now rent and buy films and TV shows from within the Amazon Prime Video app.
Prime Video is part of Amazon’s Prime membership, which features films and TV shows to stream. Amazon sells shows and films as downloads or rental for those content that isn’t the part of Prime Video. You can’t purchase kindle books from within the kindle iOS app, the same way customers have to pay on the website as amazon wasn’t using Apple’s in-app purchase system.
Prime Video now allows in-app purchases, “Apple has an established program for premium subscription video entertainment providers to offer a variety of customer benefits — including integration with the Apple TV app, AirPlay 2 support, tvOS apps, universal search, Siri support and, where applicable, single or zero sign-on,” said the Apple company.
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“On qualifying premium video entertainment apps such as Prime Video, Atlice One and Canal+, customers have the option to buy or rent movies and TV shows using the payment method tied to their existing video subscription.”
As said by the Apple, the program isn’t new. According to the report by Bloomberg Canal+ has been using this program since 2018. Apple and Amazon sit down to thrash out the terms to enable Amazon to take part – and this despite Apple having recently launched its own video streaming service, Apple TV+.
Now If Apple and Amazon can do a deal around video, could that be a pointer towards a similar rapprochement between Apple and Spotify around music? Not immediately, because unlike video there is no ‘established program’ for music. But given the (encouraged by Spotify) regulatory interest in how Apple’s system works for third-party music streaming services, it’s fair to wonder whether there is scope for such a program to be set up.
According to the review, it wouldn’t be exactly the same as video. Note the ‘payment method tied to their existing video subscription’ element of the video program. It relies on partners already having a billing relationship with customers, so they can then use in-app purchases for additional sales. Music streaming services who already have a billing relationship with customers don’t (yet) sell a la carte content on top, so they don’t need extra in-app purchases. A music program might thus be more about dropping Apple’s cut of third-party streaming subscriptions in return for commitments to supporting the latest features of its various devices.
“Apple requires that Spotify and other digital services pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple’s payment system, including upgrading from our free to our premium service,” said Daniel Ek, Spotify co-founder, and chief executive, in a blog post.
“If we pay this tax, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our premium membership well above the price of Apple Music. And to keep our price competitive for our customers, that isn’t something we can do,” he added. Apple responded by saying that it makes exceptions for “qualifying premium video entertainment apps”
