Tensions between app developers and the platforms they serve have never been at a higher pitch with the ongoing disputes Epic Games has with Apple and Google. But these explosive distractions and the government legislation being signed into law in their wake have motivated the sleeping giants into catering for the publishing masses.

Apple has historically been the first to respond by lowering App Store commission rates for small businesses and for subscriptions maintained over a year. Google has followed (slowly) on those leads. Now, ahead of this year's Android Developers Conference, it has decided to move the line of scrimmage by announcing two new discounts on commissions.

The most notable one is on subscriptions. Currently, developers are subject to a 30% commission for payments on new memberships. Memberships sustained for 12 months or longer would face a lower 15% fee. Starting from January 1, commissions for all subscriptions drop to 15%, regardless of age.

Will this mean lower subscription prices for consumers from the get-go? Probably not, especially with revenue models that rely on a competitive prestige factor like dating or gaming apps. Dropping the length prerequisite also won't help those sorts of apps with turnover, either, but at least the publisher gets an extra 15% cut it did not previously had for the few months a subscriber uses a service. It may also enable developers who don't offer subscriptions to begin doing so.

The other move applies to the lesser-known Play Media Experience Program which developers of paid streaming media and ebook apps can join to integrate better experiences and cross-promotion opportunities which aim to increase buys for new content and lengthen listening sessions. The fee, currently at 15% of applicable earnings for most participants, will drop to "as low as 10%" — the specific fee structure for the program is opaque — for ebook and music-on-demand providers starting today. Google is essentially ceding ground in the music and publishing industries where stakeholder rights have been a contentious issue for a long time. What's left to be seen is whether players like Spotify or Amazon's Audible will follow through and redistribute some of those savings to those rightsholders. Spotify, in particular, has dipped its toes in avoiding commissions by routing payments outside of its apps.

Google cites praise from Bumble and Duolingo while listing other publishers including KADOKAWA, PicsArt, and Smule as beneficiaries of these new policies. The ball's now in Apple's court to counter.