Google is being sued though? The whole reason we have this story is because the documents were revealed during discovery in the Epic vs Google lawsuit alleging monopolistic practices by the Google app store.

There are literally a dozen apps on my phone where I pay a subscription outside of the App Store.

It's often allowed if it's not purely a digital product or subscription, otherwise you have to at least also offer in-app purchases; you can still sell outside of the app.

Neither Netflix, Spotify, Hulu Live TV or YouTube TV offer in app subscriptions. It hasn’t been required for “reader apps” (strange name I know) for over a decade.

Yeah true; mostly do fitness app. Those can also get an exception, but depends on the reviewer & how you present yourself