US Supreme Court upholds ‘anti-steering’ App Store rules

In a pivotal decision, the US Supreme Court has ruled that Apple can maintain its current "anti-steering" rules within the App Store while its legal feud with Epic Games continues.

The decision, reported by Bloomberg Law, marks a significant development in the ongoing clash between the two industry giants.

At the heart of the matter are Apple's anti-steering rules, which prohibit app developers from redirecting users to external purchasing platforms for digital goods,...

10 August 2023 | App Stores

Developers sue Apple over ‘excessive’ App Store fees

More than 1,500 developers in the UK have banded together to sue Apple, alleging that the tech giant's App Store fees are "excessive" and harmful to both developers and consumers. 

The class-action lawsuit, led by Sean Ennis, a professor at the University of East Anglia Centre for Competition Policy and a former OECD economist, is seeking £785 million (€912 million) in compensation for the affected app creators.

At the core of the legal challenge is Apple's policy of...

25 July 2023 | App Stores

Apple hints at enabling sideloading in iOS 17

Apple execs continue to hint at enabling sideloading in iOS 17 to comply with pressure from governments, particularly the EU.

Renowned for its closed ecosystem, Apple is routinely accused of taking advantage of its market position to implement anti-competitive policies. The EU’s upcoming Digital Markets Act aims to put a stop to such practices by tech giants.

Under the EU’s act, Apple will be forced to allow third-party app stores to be “sideloaded” on its...

14 June 2023 | App Stores

OpenAI threatens GPT4Free project with lawsuit 

OpenAI has reportedly sent a letter to a European computer science student who runs the GPT4Free project on GitHub, demanding that he takes the project down within five days or face a lawsuit.

GPT4Free provides free access to the GPT4 and GPT3.5 models by funnelling the queries through sites like You.com, Quora, and CoCalc, and giving back the answers.

All of the sites GPT4Free uses pay OpenAI fees to use its large language models, and the scripts mean that those sites...

2 May 2023 | API

Appeals court upholds majority of Apple’s App Store policies

On Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the majority of Apple’s App Store policies and security restrictions in the antitrust lawsuit against Epic Games.

The ruling reaffirmed that Apple’s App Store and its security measures did not violate antitrust laws. However, the court also found that Apple couldn’t maintain anti-steering policies that barred users from learning about alternative payment options.

The legal saga between Epic Games and Apple began...

25 April 2023 | App Stores

Google proposes allowing Android developers to use alternative billing systems

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has invited developers and interested parties to respond to Google's proposal to allow Android developers to use alternative billing systems.

“Google’s complete control over in-app payments raised concerns this unfairly restricted app developers – by forcing them to use Google Play’s billing system – putting distance between them and their customers and reducing competition, to the detriment of Google Play users,” said...

20 April 2023 | Android

Over 1,000 experts call for halt to ‘out-of-control’ AI development

Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and over 1,000 other experts have called for a halt to “out-of-control” AI development.

In an open letter, the experts call for a six-month halt on the development of AI technology more powerful than OpenAI’s GPT-4 over the “profound risks to society and humanity”.

The 600-word letter is aimed at AI developers and justifies the call for a pause because “recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and...

29 March 2023 | Artificial Intelligence

Sony accused of ‘blatant anti-competitive conduct’

Congress has raised concerns about Sony's monopoly on the gaming market in Japan, calling for an investigation into the firm's alleged "exclusionary conduct."

Senator Maria Cantwell told a Senate Finance Committee hearing: “Sony controls a monopoly of 98 percent of the high-end game market, yet Japan's government has allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers.”

Cantwell called on US Trade...

28 March 2023 | Gaming

Apple is working on supporting App Store alternatives

Apple is working on allowing App Store alternatives due to legislation that forces its hand.

The EU introduced the Digital Markets Act in November which requires “gatekeeper” companies to open their platforms to other companies and developers. Apple has until 6 March 2024 to comply with the act by supporting the sideloading of apps on iPhones and iPads.

Similar legislation is being considered in the US and other regions.

Google has managed to avoid facing...

14 December 2022 | App Stores

Judge rejects Apple’s bid to dismiss lawsuit by Cydia’s creator

California District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has denied Apple’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit brought against the company by Cydia’s creator.

Cydia was a third-party app store which, as you will be well aware, is officially a no-no in Apple’s books. The store was popular among the “jailbreak” community and even pre-dates the official App Store.

The creator of Cydia, Jay Freeman (AKA ‘Saurik’), ended up shutting his app store down in...

30 May 2022 | App Stores