A federal court in the United States has rejected Apple’s request to delay a ruling that orders the company to stop charging developers fees on transactions made through links that take users outside the App Store.
This decision is a turning point in the case between Apple and Epic Games over app marketplace control.
With this ruling, Apple can no longer enforce its long-standing act of collecting commission from developers when users click a link within an app to pay on an external website.
This has been at the centre of a major antitrust issue for years, and the court has now said that Apple must comply without delay.
The decision followed Apple’s emergency motion to halt enforcement of a lower court ruling delivered in April.
That ruling, handed down by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, found Apple in “willful violation” of a 2021 injunction that barred the tech giant from blocking developers from guiding users to alternative payment options. Apple’s motion was denied by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In the court’s words, “Apple ‘bears the burden of showing that the circumstances justify an exercise of [our] discretion.’ After reviewing the relevant factors, we are not persuaded that a stay is appropriate.”
This effectively ends Apple’s attempt to continue charging a 27% fee on payments processed outside its ecosystem, a workaround it introduced after the initial injunction. Analysts had slammed the fee as a disguised form of the same “Apple tax,” accusing the company of undercutting the spirit of the court’s order.
Apple also used pop-up warnings, dubbed “scare screens,” which discouraged users from proceeding with external payment links. Both practices now stand void.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, said, “The long national nightmare of Apple tax is ended.”
His comment reiterates the relief shared by many developers who have long argued that Apple’s policies repress innovation and competition.
This outcome also coincides with Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), adding stress to what would have otherwise been a celebratory event for the tech giant.
The company, just days ago, touted $1.3 trillion in billings and sales in 2024, claiming that 90% of those sales didn’t generate commission revenue. But now, it’s being forced to publicly dismantle one of its most lucrative, and controversial, business strategies.
Major platforms have already started moving. Spotify and Amazon, among others, have updated their apps to allow users to pay directly via their websites, completely bypassing the App Store payment mechanism.
