tech
December 13, 2025
Apple loses its appeal of a scathing contempt ruling in iOS payments case
But Sweeney warns iOS devs are still afraid of “totally illegal” retaliation by Apple.
TL;DR
- The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld a district court's finding that Apple willfully violated an injunction regarding App Store payments.
- Apple's attempts to charge a 27 percent fee for outside payment options were deemed to have a prohibitive effect, violating the injunction.
- The appeals court found Apple acted in "bad faith" by refusing to comply with the injunction and rejecting compliant alternatives.
- While the original injunction barred any fees, the appeals court suggests Apple can charge a "reasonable fee" based on actual costs for user security and privacy.
- Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney believes this ruling will lead to significant positive changes for developers and a "beginning of true, untaxed competition in payments worldwide on iOS."
- Sweeney anticipates rapid adoption of outside payment processors by developers and predicts this will become the norm by the end of next year.
- Concerns remain among developers about potential "fear of retaliation" from Apple, such as delayed app reviews or reduced search visibility, for using outside payment options.
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