Apple can’t charge for outside app payments anymore, says court — a major blow to its app store revenue

A U.S. court rejected Apple's request to pause a ruling about how it charges for app payments. Now, Apple can’t take a fee from developers when people click a link in an app and pay outside the App Store. This rule applies only in the U.S. for now, as per reports.

This means Apple might lose a lot of money because it can’t charge for payments outside the App Store anymore. The court said Apple didn’t prove why it deserved a pause on this rule. In the court's words, Apple “bears the burden” to prove it deserves a stay, and “we are not persuaded”, as per the report by TechCrunch.

When did the Apple charge become a controversy?

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney celebrated the decision. He posted, “The long national nightmare of Apple tax has ended.” This fight started earlier when Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple was in “willful violation” of a 2021 order, as stated in the reports.

That order had already told Apple it couldn’t stop developers from using other payment options. So the judge said Apple needs to let developers link to their websites and stop unfair pricing rules.

After the ruling, Apple filed an emergency motion last month asking for a delay. It also filed an appeal to challenge the decision. In 2023, Apple allowed some outside payment links, but still took a 27% cut and showed warning pop ups called “scare screens”, according to the TechCrunch report.

What does the court ruling say ?

The new court ruling stops the 27% fee and the scare screens both. Big companies like Spotify and Amazon are already updating their apps to let users pay outside Apple’s system. This news comes right before Apple’s WWDC event next week, making the timing even more damaging, as per reports.

According to the Apple report some days back this week, Apple said it made $1.3 trillion in billings and sales in 2024. But it also said that 90% of those sales didn’t give Apple any commission.

FAQs

Q1. What did the court say about Apple’s app payment rules?
The court said Apple is not allowed to take money from app makers when people pay outside the App Store in the U.S.

Q2. Why is this ruling bad for Apple?
Because Apple might lose money from not collecting its usual fees on outside payments.