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Spotify Wins iPhone App Store Approval

Posted by timothy on from the there's-a-cream-for-that dept.

angry tapir writes "Apple has approved a streaming music application from Spotify for use on the iPhone, even though the program will compete with Apple's own iTunes service. Spotify is an advertising-supported music service that lets end-users stream music to their computers free of charge. The service is available in the U.K. and by invitation in countries including Sweden, Norway, Finland, France and Spain. Users can opt to pay for a version of the service without ads." The BBC also has a story on the app's acceptance.

26 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. And... by El+Lobo · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The fact that this is news is simply sad.

    Image the news: MS approved Firefox on Windows...

    --
    It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
    1. Re:And... by sopssa · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And you two are missing the point aswell. The whole story isn't about how surprised everyone are that Apple accepted it, but that spotify is now actually released for iPhone too. Stop trying to this thread into another "apple is bad, apple dont approve apps" discussion. I would a lot more like to read and discuss about the actual thing, aka spotify, here because its a great system and program.

      I hope they get versions out to Windows Mobile and Symbian out soon too, would be great to listen on the road and the 3g internet is practically unlimited and cheap here.

    2. Re:And... by El+Lobo · · Score: 2, Insightful
      So, MS should approve Open Office on Windows machines as a gest of good will... oh wait, Open Office runs on Windows without MS control, the horror!!!!

      The point is: yes, Apple are now angels, look pa, they have approved one competing service. But the real news is: there are STILL A LOT of competing applications that are locked out. But no, look daddy, they are not THAT bad!

      --
      It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
    3. Re:And... by gsslay · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That's not what makes this news. The fact it is competing with iTunes is simply a side issue.

      What's significant is that this makes the iPhone a mobile streaming device, with access to a massive library of music. It is not an online radio station. It is having a practically unlimited choice of music available to you, anywhere. For free.

    4. Re:And... by Trepidity · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That really isn't what the story is about, though. Maybe Spotify is great, but "Spotify released for another platform" isn't that exciting and probably wouldn't end up posted on Slashdot, if there weren't some reason that it being released for the iPhone was surprising or at some point in doubt.

      --
      10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
    5. Re:And... by dunkelfalke · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Firefox was a good enough example since it directly competes with Microsoft Internet Explorer.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    6. Re:And... by tres · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Personally, I think the story here is that Apple has done a 180 with this app & hope that this is a sign of things to come.

      The app approval process is just broken. Way back when, Steve Jobs said that there would be limitations to the applications that would be available on the store and I can understand the reasoning as it started out; however, as of late, it's just arbitrary and capricious. It's becoming simply untenable as a development platform because the combination of seemingly arbitrary and conflicting decisions for rejection combined with the ultra slow-motion with which decisions are made -- not to mention that there is zero visibility into the approval process.

      I can't run a business like that; I need to have some expectation that I'll see ROI in a reasonable time period and that Apple will act in an equitable manner regarding application submissions. My hope is that Apple is catching on to the fact that they will lose me and plenty of other developers if they don't turn the corner on the disaster that the app review process has become.

      But maybe that's just wishful thinking as I head toward week 4 of waiting for my app to be approved... While developer.apple.com flaunts this in my face:

      Based on the current volume of app submissions, 95% of applications are being approved within 14 days.

      All while Facebook's new app gets approval in about five days...

      Thanks.

      --
      Notes From Under *nix: blas.phemo.us
    7. Re:And... by imamac · · Score: 2, Informative

      All while Facebook's new app gets approval in about five days...

      While in reality it was about 11-12 days.

    8. Re:And... by necro81 · · Score: 2, Funny

      You're all missing the point!

      The point is...

      --------------> .

      Right there.

    9. Re:And... by tres · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Good job. You've counted the beans correctly, but didn't address the point.

      I guess I didn't spell it out well enough. It doesn't matter whether it took two days, twelve days or twenty days. The point is that there should be a first-in-first-out system of app evaluations. An application that uses a network connection takes a little longer to get approved. I'm okay with that; however, when I see an application that uses the same kind of resources gets submitted after mine and is approved before mine, I know there's a problem.

      --
      Notes From Under *nix: blas.phemo.us
  2. NOTE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Before someone starts comparing Spotify to Pandora or Last.fm _again_, it's something different. In Spotify you choose the songs you listen to, create playlists out of them, listen to whole albums from start to finish, or even listen to a single track in endless repeat if you so choose. It's not a personal Internet radio station, it's a huge music library that you can only listen to by streaming.

  3. Impressed by Spotify, but Apple? by Rog7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think it's a great move and a well made app & service like this can only help Apple.

    Unfortunately, I've got the distinct impression that Apple approved this app because it was poised to give them a lot of bad press if they didn't approve it. Maybe if their track record for app approval was a bit better, I'd be throwing kudos Apple's way, but at this point I'm pretty jaded.

    I find lately that I'm quite glad Apple never gained the top spot in the personal computer market, because I dread what sort of control they would impose over my PC. Yeah the alternatives haven't been great, but seeing what they've done with a market where they do have significant share, I shudder thinking about what it would have been like.

    All of the credit should go to Spotify itself. I'd really like to see it brought to North America and specifically Canada, where I can use it. It's really spectacular and more of the revolution in music listening than anything we've seen in a long while.

    1. Re:Impressed by Spotify, but Apple? by mdwh2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I mean, after all, they've sold/given away over a billion apps and have approved over 65,000 apps, but hey, their track record for app approval should be a bit better, right?

      Yes, let's compare them to other platforms.

      *checks*

      Oh wait, there isn't any data for how many apps are approved for other platforms, because you don't have to in the first place.

      The issue isn't how many they have approved - whether it's 100, 10,000, or 100 billion. The issue is that they can - and do - refuse to approve an application. If a desktop platform said you couldn't run Firefox, pleading "But they've approved 65,000 other applications" is beside the point.

      But, yeah, let's continue hating on Apple because that's the cool thing geeks do now.

      Not here on Slashdot. And I see you make the Japan-fallacy again - that anyone who doesn't praise Apple must be doing so out of irrational hatred.

    2. Re:Impressed by Spotify, but Apple? by whisper_jeff · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I see you make the Japan-fallacy again - that anyone who doesn't praise Apple must be doing so out of irrational hatred.

      Are you saying that Rog7 (the poster to whom I replied) was posting a rational critique of Apple? I sure hope not because I didn't see anything remotely rational about it.

      Apple is not perfect. There are many things I wish Apple did differently and I am more than fine with someone offering a legitimate and rational criticism of the company or their products. Lately, however, I've seen a growing trend of people hating on Apple because, well, that's what the cool kids are doing. No valid justification - just buying into the FUD.

      Would you prefer I point out just how insincere I find it when people hate on Microsoft because they're Microsoft? I think it's the same thing - people offering no solid reason to hate a company other than it's cool to hate the company.

      There are many reasons to like Apple and/or Microsoft. There are similarly many reasons to dislike Apple and/or Microsoft. Present those reasons and then a conversation can ensue.

      As an example, Rog7 didn't state that he didn't like the fact that Apple has control over what apps are and are not approved on the app store - that he wished the platform was completely open so that stories like this didn't exist. That would be a stance I could understand - you dislike Apple because they aren't as open as you would like. Fine. He implied they approved the app for PR reasons (to avoid bad press) and suggested their track record for app approval was sub-par (not that he disliked _ANY_ app failing to be approved - that their track record "could be a bit better").

      So, sorry, but I think those reasons for hating on Apple are irrational. There's no foundation in fact to support them. Sorry if you think that's a Japan-fallacy but it ain't.

  4. Not quite the game changer it appears by onion2k · · Score: 3, Informative

    There are two caveats that limit the appeal of this...

    1. You have to be a Premium Account holder ... that's £10/month.

    2. (Apparently) it'll only work with a wifi connection, not 3G.

    The wifi-only bit is the killer. Everywhere I use wifi I have a computer (office, home, girlfriend's home). That means it's not very useful, and as it's not very useful I don't see the point in buying the £10/month subscription in order to use it. If I wanted the Premium service I'd already have paid for it to use with the computers.

    --
    http://twitter.com/onion2k
    1. Re:Not quite the game changer it appears by twoshortplanks · · Score: 4, Informative

      The iPhone app can cache up to 2000 songs for offline play. See http://www.spotify.com/blog/archives/2009/07/27/spotify-for-iphone/

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      -- Sorry, I can't think of anything funny to say here.
    2. Re:Not quite the game changer it appears by Hasney · · Score: 2, Informative

      There are ways around that with a jailbroken iPhone. It will make the phone think it is on WiFi. TrickerThreeG (available in Cydia) will, with a little manual config, make any app you want think it is on WiFi when you have a 3G connection.

    3. Re:Not quite the game changer it appears by Cesa · · Score: 5, Informative

      2. (Apparently) it'll only work with a wifi connection, not 3G.

      That is incorrect, Daniel Ek confirmed on twitter that it will work over 2G/3G. Question Response

  5. Re:Apple, the new microsoft.... by MosesJones · · Score: 2, Interesting

    No they've just been found guilty for preventing other people's applications working EFFECTIVELY under Windows by not publishing the full APIs and thus giving themselves an unfair competitive advantage.

    Different approach with the same intent.

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
  6. So, can I complain? by OverlordQ · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Seems like whenever an story about Hulu/etc somes on all the non-USians come to complain about that.

    So can I complain about it not being offered here in the states and how that's so unfair so I'll just download the stuff instead of pay for it?

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  7. N900 by pm_rat_poison · · Score: 4, Insightful

    With the Nokia N900, the Palm Pre and an army of android phones waiting around the corner, maybe dear apple understands they're not so special any more! They can't afford being so hoity-toity with three (android, maemo, webos) fully functional multitasking OS's breathing down their necks

  8. It should be noted that the iPhone version... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    ..._requires_ a Premium account - a normal, free account is not allowed to log in. This is all for understandable reasons relating to how Spotify, when used with a free account, enforces ads that can not be shut off or ignored.

    1. Re:It should be noted that the iPhone version... by sopssa · · Score: 2, Interesting

      ..._requires_ a Premium account - a normal, free account is not allowed to log in. This is all for understandable reasons relating to how Spotify, when used with a free account, enforces ads that can not be shut off or ignored.

      Which I find really interesting from Apple's perspective, because

      The application will be free, but will require the user to have a premium Spotify subscription, which costs £10.

      means Apple wont be getting its share from the sales on the app store, because those premium subscriptions are bought directly from Spotify's site.

    2. Re:It should be noted that the iPhone version... by TuaAmin13 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm thinking this slipped by the cens---I mean, reviewers. For every single overly strict reviewer they have, one or two is probably more lax. That guy, whose job is probably now in jeopardy, approved the app not realizing Apple won't make money, even if it did compete with existing iPhone functionality.

      Either that or they're panicking because of the recent FCC inquiries so they don't want to mess anything up.

      But we all know Apple doesn't panic.

  9. Re:Spotify Blog by muffen · · Score: 2, Informative

    In a Swedish article on IDG.SE they were waiting for the iPhone app before the US launch. Currently they expect spotify in the US before year-end.

    You can a preview of the app here

  10. Re:Apple, the new microsoft.... by sopssa · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yep, Windows OS is quite open (not meaning the OSS way now) compared to Apple's stuff and even Windows Mobile is a lot more open than iPhone, you can install any software on it like on Windows. Hell, you can even get Linux and Android running on it without hacks or jailbreaking.

    Leigh stated that it isn't a ROM hack or anything, but a Linux image running within Windows Mobile. Hmm, a dual boot device could be very enticing for the mobile gadget geek.