According to The Verge, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has largely affirmed an April 2024 ruling that Apple is failing to comply with a 2021 order from Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. That original order required Apple to allow developers to link to external payment options, a key demand in Epic Games’ long-running lawsuit. The appeals court panel is now asking Judge Gonzalez Rogers to examine how Apple could charge “reasonable fees” for these outside purchases. This comes after her April ruling blocked Apple from taking any cut, citing its decision to impose a 27% fee and force plain-text links. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney called the latest decision “really awesome for all developers,” marking another significant step in the battle over the App Store’s control.
What This Really Means For Developers
Look, this is huge. For years, Apple‘s 30% (or later 27%) cut on in-app purchases was just the cost of doing business on iOS. You couldn’t even tell users they could pay less on your website. Now? The legal walls are closing in. The court isn’t just telling Apple to allow links—it’s actively shaping what a “reasonable” alternative fee structure might look like. That’s a massive shift. It means the debate is moving from *if* Apple has to open up to *how much* it can charge for the privilege of hosting an app. For a small developer, even a few percentage points shaved off that fee can be the difference between profit and loss. But here’s the thing: Apple is famously stubborn. Do we really think they’ll go down without a dozen more appeals and creative compliance tactics? Probably not.
The Bigger Picture For Users And The Market
So what does this mean for you, the person actually using the phone? In the short term, probably not much. You might start seeing slightly less janky payment links in some apps, maybe a pop-up that says “hey, buy this subscription on our site and save 20%.” The experience might be clunky at first. But the long-term impact is where it gets interesting. If developers can keep more of their revenue, they might invest more in their iOS apps, or pass some savings along. More importantly, this chips away at the walled garden. It establishes a precedent that platform owners can’t completely lock down the economic activity within their ecosystems. That’s a principle that could eventually affect everything from game consoles to, well, other digital marketplaces. It’s a slow burn, but the fuse is definitely lit.
