Developers provide value to Apple’s platform
Apple was found in violation of a 2021 injunction that went into effect in January 2024, and a developer is seeking a class action lawsuit for funds developers could have earned in that time with links outside the App Store instead of mandatory in-app subscription purchases.
The only victory Epic Games claimed over Apple in its lengthy trial was a court’s order to end anti-steering practices in the App Store. Enforcement of that order was delayed until January 2024, but the court found Apple’s changes violated the injunction.
The violation was called deliberate by the judge, and could lead to criminal contempt charges relating to the decision. According to law firm Hagens Berman, a class action lawsuit has been filed by a developer as a result of the injunction violation.
The developer is seeking class action status for a lawsuit claiming developers could have been making money on external purchases in the 15 months since the injunction enforcement began. Instead, they were forced to continue paying Apple’s commission fees or seek access to a broken external payment system that would result in costing developers more money.
The developer in question builds the Pure Sweat Basketball app used by professional basketball players. The developer’s two apps originally had external links for purchases, but Apple forced them to be removed.
The lawsuit alleges that if Apple had followed the injunction properly, developers could have immediately implemented external links to purchases and avoided a year of unnecessary commissions.
While the total value of the damages isn’t defined, it could be in the billions. It names Apple’s 136,000 developers and their potential income as subject to the class action.
The problem with the lawsuit
The developer is attempting to get money out of an untested legal theory. While, yes, theoretically, the developers could have avoided Apple’s commissions on day one of injunction enforcement, that isn’t how the ruling was set up.
The courts told Apple to get rid of anti-steering rules, which it did. On paper, Apple complied with the court’s requests by implementing a new system, even if it was a bad one.
It took until Epic Games filed a complaint with the courts, suggesting Apple’s new rules were violating the injunction for something to change. The courts agreed with the complaint and found Apple in violation.
The court issued new orders specifically saying there can be no restrictions on linking out and no commissions on anything purchased outside of the App Store. These were not present when the original injunction began, so technically the developer can’t claim that they would have been able to make money as they can now.
Apple has appealed the injunction violation, but is complying with the new requirements. Developers like Spotify have already submitted updates with external links to subscription options.