Supreme Court rejects Apple and Epic Games appeals in App Store case

The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeals filed by both Apple and Epic Games following a judge’s ruling that Apple must allow developers to offer alternative methods to pay for apps and services other than through the App Store. The permanent injunction giving developers a way to avoid the 30 percent cut Apple takes will remain in place.

Apple made the appeal to the high court back in September of last year, requesting it review the circuit court’s decision it deemed “unconstitutional.” While the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Epic’s appeal that Apple has indeed broken California’s Unfair Competition law, it rejected Epic’s claim that the App store is a monopoly. Epic Games has been front and center in the fight against Apple’s developer transaction fee policy since 2020.

Other companies, including Spotify and the New York Times, are also trying to challenge app store policies on Apple and Google platforms. The Coalition for App Fairness, which consists of more than 60 companies now, believes no developers should be required to use the app store exclusively. The Epic lawsuit was just the start — problems have been piling up for Apple.