Tinder Goes For Direct Payments To Rebel Against App Fees On Google Play

Saanvi Araav - Aug 16, 2019

Tinder is trying a different way to fight against the Google Play fees by simply ignoring what the store operators want.

Tinder is trying a different way to fight against the Google Play fees by ignoring what the operators of the store want. For its Android app, the popular dating/ matchmaking service has implemented a new payment process. This new system will entirely bypass the regular payment system of Google Play to taking direct payments. If you choose to purchase with that route, you won't be able to switch back to the Google Play's one afterward.

Tinder is rebelling

Google Play Tinder Payment — Tinder is betting that the search giant won't do anything to such a popular app despite its defiance.

Justine Sacco (spokeswoman of Match Group, the company behind Tinder) had an interview with Bloomberg on the matter. She said that the company is continually testing new features on their apps, and this is just another experiment to test out new payment options. She also added that this new option would benefit the user's experience.

On Google Play, it is totally practical for developers to allow direct payments instead of going through the platform. However, that means bypassing the app store altogether. But not like Epic's move with Fornite, remaining on the app store but ditching the usual requirements is an entirely different matter. Maybe, Tinder is betting that the search giant won't do anything to such a popular app despite its defiance.

Fight for the pie share

Services like Spotify and Tiner are acting up against the revenue cuts on app stores for one apparent reason: they want a more significant portion from the money pie. Apple and Google all take in the 1st year up to 30 percent profit cut from the in-app subscriptions (15% in the following years). That is a big cut for services that cost about under 10 dollars each month. Usually, developers have to endure that hit for users who subscribe via the store or raise the prices for compensation.

Featured Section Apple Music Get Started 2x — Apple gets all subscriptions revenue from Apple Music.

The developers also said that this revenue sharing is the cause of unfair competition when the app stores' operators also offer similar services. For example, Apple gets all subscriptions revenue from Apple Music, while Spotify only gets 70% from its in-app memberships.