A US court has refused to stay in a ruling that requires the company to suspend claims to the developer for payments made outside the App Store via app links.
This means in the US, if Apple clicks in-app links to take you outside the app store for payment, resulting in a potential loss in payment, they will no longer be able to charge developers for fees.
“Apple’ is burdened with showing that the situation justifies the exercise of (our) discretion,” the court said in its filing. “After reviewing relevant factors, I have not convinced them that the stay is appropriate,” he added.
Epic Games Chief Tim Sweeney praised the court’s ruling, saying in an X post it “ends the long Apple tax national nightmare.”
In April, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers backed the epic game, saying Apple was in a “willful violation” of its 2021 injunction. This essentially means that Apple needs to change its App Store rules so that developers can freely link to their websites to purchase digital products.
In response, Apple filed an emergency motion last month asking for a stay in the court’s ruling. The company also filed an appeal against the ruling at about the same time.
Last year, Apple began allowing other apps to link out and use non-apple payment mechanisms, but still cost 27%, adding what critics call “Scare Screens.” The new ruling will eliminate both practices.
Large companies have already made changes to their apps, and Spotify and Amazon are publishing new updates that allow users to pay for subscriptions and purchases outside the app store.
This is a big blow to Apple as the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is now slotted for next week. Earlier this week, the company released a report that it generated $1.3 trillion in billing and sales in 2024. He added that 90% of these sales did not generate Apple’s fee revenue.