US Supreme Court declines to hear Apple vs Epic 9th Circuit Appeal (No 3rd party stores on US iOS, links to alternative payment methods OK) [Reuters]

[Gizmo_Duck]

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a challenge by Apple to a lower court's decision requiring changes to certain rules in its lucrative App Store, as the justices shunned the lengthy legal battle between the iPhone maker and Epic Games, maker of the popular video game "Fortnite."

The justices also turned away Epic's appeal of the lower court's ruling that Apple's App Store policies limiting how software is distributed and paid for do not violate federal antitrust laws. The justices gave no reasons for their decision to deny the appeals.

Apple's stock fell more than 2% in early trading on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in 2021 rejected Epic's antitrust claims against Apple. But the judge found that Apple violated California's unfair competition law by barring developers from "steering" users to make digital purchases that bypass Apple's in-app system, which Epic contends could save them money with lower commissions.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld much of Rogers' decision in 2023, finding that Epic had "failed to prove the existence of substantially less restrictive alternatives" to Apple's system.

The judge's injunction requires Apple to let app developers provide links and buttons that direct consumers to other ways to pay for digital content that they use in their apps.
Sweeney wrote on his social media post: "As of today, developers can begin exercising their court-established right to tell US customers about better prices on the web."

Epic won
The right to provide a link/button to allow users know about alternative payment methods elsewhere.

Apple won
The right to reject third party app stores on iOS.
The right to take a cut of purchases through the app store.

More at Reuters:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-snubs-epic-games-legal-battle-with-apple-2024-01-16/

 

[The Mad Titan]

Nasty precursor set.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Nasty precursor set.

 

[winb83]

Seems like I saw this same exact thread somewhere else line for line...

 

[Rice N Beans]

Seems about in-line with expectations.

 

[Canon]

Nasty precursor set.

I know you and MS upset over this


but good keep that shyt off my IOS

 

[Black Mamba]

fukk epic

 

[The Mad Titan]

I know you and MS upset over this


but good keep that shyt off my IOS

Is that what you think.

 

[Canon]

Is that what you think.

oh these companies definitely wanna side load there stuff on IOS

that's not even an argument

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

i feel safer already

 

[Ciggavelli]

I don't even know what this means for the consumer. fukk both Apple and Epic, though I hate Epic more

 

[5n0man]

I don't even know what this means for the consumer. fukk both Apple and Epic, though I hate Epic more

Seems like a win for everyone except Epic and Apple.

Epic's lawsuit forced Apple to allow alternative payment options where they can't take a percentage. But the court also ruled that Apple doesn’t have to allow Epic software on their app store because Epic tried to bypass Apple's payment structure before a ruling was made in court.


It SHOULD help customers because app developers don't have to worry about apple's 30 percent fee so they can make their app purchases cheaper, but realistically they'll probably just keep prices the same and pocket the 30 percent.

 

[Rembrandt]

I don't even know what this means for the consumer. fukk both Apple and Epic, though I hate Epic more

No sideloading so for instance, with YouTube being weird about adblock on android you can download YouTube revanced and automatically remove ads and sponsor blocks. Or like the reddit change with the API ruining third party apps, you can download reddit revanced and use third party apps again.

So basically just the ability to download apps or things not officially on the app store, many of which are great alternatives. Also allows developers to avoid the 30% tax to apple for subs and purchases which is beneficial to smaller devs.

People were fear mongering about how it affects safety even though even with android, you have to take several steps to enable sideloading for apks and it's not like app store or Google Play store especially are lacking fake/infected apps.

So as a consumer, this order essentially keeps you locked in the walled garden with no ability to really customize to the full extent and only download and install what apple approves, which in some cases make things an even bigger headache (YouTube/reddit/gamepass/emulators/fortnite Or even if you wanted to have something wild like a pornhub app, you're screwed.

So how it really affects you varies depending on how you feel about being in apples walled garden vs having the ability to download an emulator for instance and play games or being cheap and getting Spotify for free or having a mobile YouTube without ads. Basically what jailbreaking was back in the day on old iPhones/iPod touches.

 

[-DMP-]

Protect the walled garden at all cost.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Protect the walled garden at all cost.

Keep me safe