Apple won an appeal to delay an order that would allow developers to avoid its App Store commission while the company continues the appeal process.
Epic sued Apple in an effort to break up the Apple ecosystem and force the company to allow third-party stores, as well as payment systems, on iOS/iPadOS. Epic claimed Apple was an abusive monopoly, and should be treated accordingly. Ultimately, Epic lost nine out of its 10 claims. The only point Epic won was the judge ruling that Apple must allow developers to include in-app links to outside payment options.
Apple appealed the decision and requested a stay, saying it should not have to implement the change until the appeal process was exhausted. The original judge, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, denied the request, with the change set to go into effect today.
An appeals court overturned that decision Wednesday, according to The Seattle Times, ruling that Apple does not have to make changes while the case makes its way through the appeals process.
“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 appellate judges wrote, adding that Apple “made a sufficient showing of irreparable harm” to the App Store.
Apple reiterated the stand it has always taken in a statement following the ruling.
“Our concern is that these changes would have created new privacy and security risks and disrupted the user experience customers love about the App Store.”