Spotify was the first to launch non-Google Android billing in the US.

Google is gradually loosening its control over Google Play billing. In March, the company announced a “Payout at User Choice”pilot plan that will give users the ability to buy things on Google Play through a third-party payment processor. In some countries, the pilot project was launched in September, with Google accepting developer registrations in the European Economic Area, Australia, India, Indonesia, and Japan. The feature finally arrived in the US today, with Google announcing an expansion to the US, Brazil, and South Africa.

As announced in March, Google’s first partner for the project is Spotify, one of its biggest customers, which has its own blog post., stating that this feature will be launched this week. The Play Store has always required developers to exclusively use Google Play Billing for in-app payments, but bigger companies like Spotify and Netflix have ignored these rules for years, apparently deciding they’re too big to ban. They’ve been right for years, but Google has announced that it will actually start enforcing its rules, even for large companies, in 2022. However, when the March deadline hit, user-choice billing was also announced, with Spotify coming first. partner, so it’s unclear if Google has ever been able to get Spotify to follow the rules.

Spotify has an idea of ​​what its officially sanctioned User Choice Billing will look like, with payment buttons for “Google Play”and “Spotify”next to each other on the checkout page. Clicking on the “Spotify”button displays options to enter a credit card directly or use PayPal. Spotify says it’s the “first pilot”of User Choice Billing with this launch, and Google says dating app Bumble is the second app approved for alternative billing.

The Google blog post ridiculously portrays multiple payment options as a kind of world-first grand experiment that has never been done before. Google says it wants to “understand the complexities”of having a second payment option, and needs to “test and replicate different implementations”of credit card processing. Every other checkout screen on the web has had a PayPal button for about 20 years now, so perhaps something from that experience could help Google navigate this dark, uncharted territory. Google says Spotify’s “initial test implementation”of the PayPal button “is likely to evolve over time as they continue to iterate and learn.”

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With today’s launch in the US, Brazil and South Africa, User Choice Billing is now available in 35 countries, according to Google. However, you’ll need an app that’s actually approved for the program, and Spotify says it’s rolling out the feature in “select markets.”

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