Google made a major concession, Google Play allows US developers to use alternative payment systems

Google Play App Store will allow Spotify, a streaming music service, and Bumble, a dating app, to charge US users a subscription fee directly from its Android app, Google announced on Thursday.

Google Android's move is a major concession made by major mobile app stores to third-party charging systems, as well as a major difference in app store policy between Google and Apple. Typically, Google Play and Apple App Store take a 15 to 30 per cent commission on digital sales within the app through their billing platform. Google now allows companies to deduct users' credit cards directly from their apps, reducing fees paid for services such as Spotify.

However, Google said in a support document that applications that charge users directly still have to pay a percentage of their sales to Google. Spotify will continue to accept subscription payments through the Google Play billing system. "when users choose to use other billing systems, the service fee paid by the developer will be reduced by 4 per cent." Google said.