(Credit: Tada Images/Shutterstock)
UPDATE: Apple has now enacted changes across its App Store in the US, allowing developers to change apps from May 1 onward. The company also emailed developers about the changes, which include removing the limitation on alternative payment methods and removing the restriction on devs not being able to highlight other options. Spotify has already updated its app to highlight pricing and subscription information.
Original story 5/1:
The latest ruling in the Apple versus Epic Games case means the former needs to update its App Store policies immediately. It can no longer restrict how developers recommend alternative purchase methods from its platform's apps, and Apple can no longer claim commission from those purchases. For gamers, this means Fortnite will be returning to iOS.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled this week that Apple has been ignoring a 2021 injunction. "Effective immediately, Apple will no longer impede developers’ ability to communicate with users nor will they levy or impose a new commission on off-app purchases," she says.
Apple appealed the injunction, delaying changes until 2024, when it allowed developers to include a link directly to sources outside the App Store. It also added a 27% commission on revenue from those links.
The judge now says Apple cannot make a commission on purchases made outside of an app, and it can’t force developers to disclose how much money is made from those links. It also can’t control developers' own style, language, formatting, or other elements around the links.
Other parts of the ruling say Apple can't interfere with the use of buttons to highlight alternative payment options and can't discourage the use of an alternative except for a "neutral message apprising users that they are going to a third-party site."
The case dates back to 2020, when Apple removed Fortnite from its App Store after Epic Games added a direct payment option inside the multiplayer title, cutting off Apple from a slice of the revenue. Epic is now offering what CEO Tim Sweeney calls a “peace offering." On X, he writes, “If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return ‘Fortnite’ to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic.”
Fortnite should return to the App Store next week, Sweeney says, although there's no exact timeframe of when it will be available to download.
This could also continue to drag on. An Apple spokesperson told Variety, “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal.”
The court, however, appears to be losing patience. “Time is of the essence," the judge writes.
"The Court will not tolerate further delays. As previously ordered, Apple will not impede competition.”
If you own Apple products, this will mean you're able to more readily use alternative payment methods from links in the apps you use. If developers implement these changes, those companies won't need to pay Apple’s 30% commission on purchases.
Some developers may pass those saving on to customers, meaning prices are cheaper through alternative payment methods. It will be up to developers to price alternatives appropriately.
As part of the same ruling, Judge Gonzalez Rogers also said Apple's VP of Finance, Alex Roman, misled the court when he said Apple didn't decide about the 27% commission rate until early 2024. "Contemporaneous business documents reveal that, on the contrary, the main components of Apple's plan, including the 27% commission, were determined in July 2023.”
As such, the judge referred the matter to the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California "to investigate whether criminal contempt proceedings are appropriate."