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Snap CEO says company is ‘happy’ to pay App Store tax, agrees with ATT feature

Amid Epic Games’ intense lawsuit against Apple over how it runs the App Store, Snap’s CEO Evan Spiegel has shared the company’s positive perspective on Apple’s 30% commission and the new app tracking transparency feature that’s drawn the ire of Facebook and the ad industry.

In an interview with CNBC’s TechCheck today, Snap – Snapchat’s parent-company – CEO Evan Spiegel spoke about how the company views Apple’s 30% App Store commission. Notably, it’s the opposite of what we’ve been hearing from Epic, Spotify, Facebook, and the Coalition for App Fairness.

Here’s what Spiegel had to say about paying the 30% rate:

“We really feel like Snapchat wouldn’t exist without the iPhone and without the amazing platform that Apple has created,” Spiegel said on TechCheck. “In that sense, I’m not sure we have a choice about paying the 30% fee, and of course, we’re happy to do it in exchange for all of the amazing technology that they provide to us in terms of the software but also in terms of their hardware advancements.”

And when asked about Apple’s ad tracking transparency feature that just launched to both praise from privacy advocates and heavy criticism from Facebook and many in the ad industry, Spiegel said the transition has been smooth for Snap and it’s on the same page as Apple:

“We’re really aligned with them on the changes they’re making to help protect privacy,” Spiegel said. “And so far, the early investments we made starting almost 10 years ago to protect user privacy on our platform are really paying off.”

Just yesterday, Snapchat previewed a brand new Story Studio iOS video editing app alongside the next-gen Snapchat Spectacles.

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Avatar for Michael Potuck Michael Potuck

Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials.


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