A US district judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled today that, starting immediately, Apple is no longer allowed to tax external payment links within App Store titles nor can it restrict how they appear within the apps.
This ruling came out of the longstanding Apple vs. Epic Games legal dispute, which has been going on for over four years now. While an earlier ruling was in Apple’s favor, the latest one is a victory not just for Epic but all developers looking to distribute their apps within the US iOS App Store and do not want to pay Apple for using its payment systems.
As part of this latest ruling, Apple can no longer impose any commission or any fee on purchases that consumers make outside an app. It also cannot restrict developers’ style, formatting, or placement of links for purchases outside of an app nor can it block or limit the use of buttons or other calls to action. Apple also cannot interfere with consumers’ choice to leave an app with anything beyond a neutral message apprising users that they are going to a third-party site.
It did not help Apple’s case that the company’s VP of Finance, Alex Roman, was found lying under oath, and that company CEO Tim Cook knowingly advocated defying the court’s original 2021 ruling despite Apple Fellow Phil Schiller suggesting otherwise.
Apple has responded to this ruling stating that “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal.”
Originally, Apple required developers distributing their apps through its App Store to force all users to use Apple’s own payment system for any purchases made within the app. As with the purchase of the app itself, any in-app purchases were also taxed 30% of the total purchase amount, which Apple pocketed. Developers were prevented from having links to external purchase pages within their apps or even hint at such pages existing, and when a later ruling prevented the company from doing that it resorted to scare tactics every time a user tried to click on an external payment link. And even the external payment was subjected to a 27% tax.
Epic — and also Spotify, which has had its own run-ins with Apple on similar matters — have issued statements that they are pleased with this decision and will be updating their apps immediately.