Developers will have to put plans to steer App Store users to their own direct payments systems on the back burner. A court on Wednesday granted Apple’s request to put the change on hold while the iPhone-maker appeals the Epic Games v. Apple court ruling.
Any modifications to the App Store resulting from the lawsuit are now in limbo… quite possibly for years.
Apple wins stay from appeals court on App Store changes
In September, a California federal judge’s ruling in the Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit ordered Apple to allow iPhone software developers to point customers to their own websites to make in-app purchases. Later, a Dec. 9 deadline was added.
On December 8, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for N. California granted Apple’s request for a stay on the original ruling while the appeals process goes on. The court says that it agrees with the iPhone-maker’s claim that following the ruling would cause it irreparable harm.
And Wednesday’s decision also cast some doubt on the entirety of the original ruling. “Apple has demonstrated, at minimum, that its appeal raises serious questions on the merits of the district court’s determination that Epic Games, Inc. failed to show Apple’s conduct violated any antitrust laws but did show that the same conduct violated California’s Unfair Competition Law,” the appeals court judges wrote.
The stay is intended to maintain the App Store status quo while lawyers for Apple and Epic Games continue through the appeals process. So iPhone users shouldn’t expect to see new options to pay for App Store purchases. And Apple already said it won’t let Epic Games and Fortnite back in the App Store without being ordered to do so by a court.
Source: U.S. Court of Appeals for Northern California
