Apple is once again back in court — this time before the US Court of Appeals in San Francisco — to contest an order requiring it to open its App Store to external payment links. The long-running legal saga between Apple and Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, has entered a new phase, as reported by Bloomberg.
The case centers around a 2021 ruling by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who found that Apple violated California state law by preventing developers from directing users to cheaper payment options outside the App Store. Although the judge sided with Apple on broader federal antitrust claims, she ruled that its “anti-steering” restrictions were unlawful.
In April 2025, Judge Rogers determined that Apple “willfully” defied her earlier order. Her ruling blocks Apple from charging commissions on transactions that occur outside the App Store and restricts the company from limiting developers’ use of links or design elements that direct customers to their own websites. Rogers even referred Apple to federal prosecutors for a potential criminal probe, intensifying the company’s legal woes.
The same panel of three appellate judges who upheld Rogers’ 2021 decision will hear Apple’s current appeal. The tech giant argues that it has complied with the ruling by allowing developers to include external links — though it also introduced a 27% commission on off-platform transactions. Epic Games has accused Apple of violating the injunction’s spirit by imposing these new fees and design restrictions.
Apple’s App Store remains one of its most profitable business units. While the company does not disclose specific App Store revenues, it reported that it “facilitated” over $400 billion in developer sales in 2024. According to analytics firm Appfigures, Apple itself earned roughly $10 billion in App Store revenue in the US that same year.
Meanwhile, several major developers — including Epic Games, Amazon, and Spotify — have already modified their apps to allow customers to make purchases directly on their own platforms, bypassing Apple’s payment system altogether.
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