Yes, subscribing outside the app does avoid the cut. Which is why you can't subscribe to spotify in the iOS app, you have to open a browser: https://support.spotify.com/us/article/cant-subscribe-to-pre...

Until this year, Spotify couldn't even tell you in the iOS app that you could pay for premium: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2025-05-01/following-landmark-c...

This meant in apple music, the user could open the app and it would work including paid features.

In spotify, you could open the app and it would tell you "You can't subscribe here, sorry" and couldn't even link you to a webpage you could subscribe at.

I'm certain a non-zero number of users couldn't understand what to do with that apple-approved error and gave up.

Maybe there's a reason that apple lost in court for that one.