Recently, Spotify launched its audiobook service, giving subscribers access to over 300,000 audiobooks. While this was great news, at the time, it was limited to those in the United States. Now, the streaming service has expanded its offerings to other regions, giving access to those in the UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand.

Spotify's audiobook service gives users access to over 300,000 audiobooks, but it isn't part of its unlimited streaming service. That means even though you're signed up to an existing streaming plan, you won't automatically get access to audiobooks. Users that want to listen to audiobooks will need to purchase each one and then listen to them using the service.

Although it launched the service in the US in September, it pulled the service from the app a month later. While a clear reason wasn't provided at the time, many speculated that it had to do with how Apple takes a percentage of anything sold through its App Store. This has been a long-standing issue with the App Store, with many becoming¿ more vocal about it over the past few years.

While the App Store certainly provides an amazing portal for developers, the one downside is that Apple takes a 30 percent cut of anything sold on the platform. That means if you sell your app or any other features within the app, Apple gets a cut of it. To avoid this, some developers have tried to redirect customers outside the App Store. Spotify now redirects customers to its online web shop, where audiobooks can be purchased and then listened to through the app.

There's no telling how this approach will work in the long run, but Apple's 30 percent fee is something that many companies have talked about over the past couple of years, with some being more vocal than others and could become a bigger issue as more time passes.


Source: Spotify