Apple has suffered a major setback in court over its App Store policies. In the latest hearing, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sharply criticized Apple’s workaround to an earlier injunction – specifically, its policy of charging a 27% commission on external purchases made outside the App Store, compared to the standard 30% for in-app purchases.
What’s more, Apple imposed unnecessary restrictions on developers, such as requiring them to report external purchases, limiting link design and placement, and allowing only one external link – effectively undermining the court’s original order.
In response, the court issued new, stricter rules. Apple is no longer allowed to:
- Charge any fees for purchases made outside the app.
- Monitor, track, audit, or demand reports from developers about those purchases.
- Impose design or placement restrictions on external purchase links.
- Interact with external links beyond a neutral message that the user is leaving the App Store.
All developers, regardless of app category, must be given equal rights to include such links.
An Apple spokesperson told 9to5Mac: “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal.”
Meanwhile, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney welcomed the decision and confirmed that Fortnite will return to the iOS App Store in the United States next week. He also stated that if Apple drops the external commission globally, Epic will launch Fortnite worldwide and drop all related litigation.
