The Apple versus Epic Games case continues to develop with the latest news seeing the former asking for a pause to last week’s landmark ruling. Apple filed an emergency motion on Wednesday to pause the changes it has been forced to make to its App Store.
Apple was told to drop all commissions made from external links taking customers out of iOS applications, and it was told to remove rules that restricted how developers advertised alternative payment methods within apps. The changes enforced by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers were “effective immediately” seeing Apple action them within a day of the ruling.
The new filing is with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit where Apple argues the changes are unlawfully impacting its business. The court documents say, “A federal court cannot force Apple to permanently give away free access to its products and services, including intellectual property.”
Apple’s lawyers note within the appeal that it will cost the company “hundreds of millions to billions” annually. That’s why Apple is fighting hard to revert these changes.
After a 2021 ruling from Judge Rogers, Apple allowed developers to include a link to an external payment method. That didn’t happen until 2024 though because of an extended appeals process. Apple then brought in additional rules that saw it earn up to 27% commission rate from those links, which Rogers recently said undermined “the spirit of the injunction.”
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Fortnite developer Epic Games has confirmed its most popular game will still return to the App Store this week, despite Apple’s decision to appeal. In a statement on X, Epic Games said, “Apple’s Motion to Stay is a last ditch effort to block competition and extract massive junk fees at the expense of consumers and developers.
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“Since the contempt of court decision was issued by the District Court, Apple has faced a surge of genuine competition as developers have updated their apps with better payment methods, better deals, and better consumer choice – all benefiting U.S. consumers as the 2021 injunction originally intended.”
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Many companies and developers have spent the last week making changes to apps after the new rules. We’ve already seen changes to services like Kindle, Patreon, and Spotify. It’s expected many smaller apps are still working on new versions to benefit from the rules loosening.
It may make some services cheaper for you if you subscribe on an Apple product. Privacy-focused software maker Proton has said it plans to drop its price by 30% to pass the fee normally paid by developers to Apple back to its customers.
If a pause is granted for Apple, it may be we see these services have to roll back changes for the foreseeable future. We’ll know by May 28, which is the deadline for the appeal to be answered.
About James Peckham
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