
The appeals process will likely cause delays, so don't expect changes any time soon. Whatever it looks like, Apple solely controlling what critics call a "toll booth" in the App Store will be no longer. Or, there could be a link inside the app directing customers to complete a payment on a browser. You might see a new button in some of your favorite apps that lets you buy things through the developer's own payment system, for example. Will there be any visible changes to apps downloaded from the App Store? If developers are no longer forced to use Apple's payment system - and can avoid the 30% commission - they could lower their prices. When Epic violated Apple's rules and allowed people to buy credits for Fortnite through its own system, it offered a 30% discount, since there was no Apple levy involved. So will this make apps and in-app items cheaper?

That's prohibited under California competition laws. Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple was hiding information from consumers and limiting choice. It means that when you pay for, say, a Spotify subscription on your iPhone, or a cool new outfit for your avatar in the mobile version of Roblox, you could get the option to pay through Spotify or Roblox's own systems.Īpple long has banned app developers from offering these alternative payment methods. But what does this mean for people who buy apps for their iPhones and iPads? "It will improve competition on the edges, but it's not the fundamental change that Epic and advocates of the antitrust case would have hoped for." "It's a split decision," said Mark Lemley, a Stanford Law School professor who studies antitrust issues and technology. She also said Apple does not have an illegal monopoly over how developers can process payments for mobile games, which Apple applauded.

That will please Apple, but it is far from what Epic sought.įor Apple, Gonzalez Rogers upheld the App Store's overall structure as legal, a major victory for the tech giant. Gonzalez Rogers told Apple to ease up and let in other payment options, within 90 days. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said Apple is breaking the law by forcing people to pay for apps and in-app items through the App Store, where it usually takes a 30% slice of the payment as commission. If anything, though, Apple and Google did land small wins, but neither got what it wanted. A federal judge on Friday ordered Apple to loosen some of the rules on its App Store for how payments are processed.Ī federal judge on Friday issued a long-awaited ruling in Fortnite maker Epic Games' legal battle with Apple over its App Store policies.īoth sides are using the 185-page ruling to double down on their own positions, which is possible because the details are complicated.
