Netflix Doesn’t Want to Pay the Apple Cut

People don’t want to pay the middleman. When Fortnite launched on Android, the developers circumvented the Google Play store so they wouldn’t have to give Google their cut. Now Netflix is trying to sidestep Apple on iOS devices so they can keep the 30-percent Apple cut.

When users sign up through iOS, Apple takes 30-percent of the initial subscription cost and 15-percent for every renewal thereafter. It used to be a permanent 30-percent, but Apple cut that in half for the subsequent charges due to developer pushback.

Netflix isn’t happy paying anything, so what they’re doing is redirecting new users to a mobile webpage, where they can sign up for the service without going through Apple at all.

For whatever reason, this won’t affect the United States and UK markets, but Apple went from testing their method in ten countries in June to 33 countries in August. Users in Canada, Australia, Mexico, and Japan have all reported having to go through the new method.

The text will supposedly end on September 30th, but it’s unclear whether that means things will go back to the old iOS way or adopt the new method permanently. In a statement to the Verge, Netflix summed up as such:

“We are constantly innovating and testing new signup approaches on different platforms to better understand what our members like. Based on what we learn, we work to improve the Netflix experience for members everywhere.”

It’s always about the customers, except when it isn’t, like when Netflix is trying to shave off some overhead. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. If they’re successful, just like Fortnite was successful, expect to see more developers looking for ways to dodge Google’s and Apple’s fees. And then if that happens, look for Google and Apple to find new ways to retake them.