Following a judge’s ruling that Apple must allow developers the option of linking to external payment systems in their iOS apps as part of its lawsuit with Epic Games, an appeals court has permitted Apple to delay making the change until it’s fully able to hear the case.
Back in September – following a lengthy court battle arising from Apple’s decision to remove Fortnite from its App Store after Epic broke App Store guidelines by deliberately circumventing iOS’ in-app payment mechanisms – California’s Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled against all but one of Epic’s legal challenges.
Gonzalez Rogers proclaimed Apple was free to control the payment system of its own platform – as Epic had failed to prove the iPhone maker held a monopoly as defined by antitrust laws – but also ruled Apple could not block developers from linking out to alternative payment methods from within their apps, or prevent developers from informing customers of alternative payments methods using contact details voluntarily provided for that purposes, as that would constitute “anti-competitive conduct” under state law.
The ruling was initially set to be enforced from 9th December, but Apple petitioned the district court to delay the implementation date until all appeals in the Epic v. Apple trial were resolved. However, Gonzalez Rogers denied the request, saying, “Apple’s motion is based on a selective reading of this Court’s findings and ignores all of the findings which supported the injunction.”