Court rules that the App Store can stay closed

The Future. On appeal from both Apple and Epic Games, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Apple’s App Store can stay closed and that its security restrictions are reasonable. The case likely puts an end to the drama that began when Apple removed Epic’s Fortnite from the App Store (after it tried to circumvent the store’s fees)… likely dealing a blow to the legion of brands hoping they could recoup an extra 15-30% of revenue from customers.

Epic fail
Apple has succeeded in keeping the status quo… mostly.

• The court ruled in favor of Apple in 9 of the 10 claims brought forth in the long-running Apple vs. Epic Games saga. 
• The ruling affirmed that Apple doesn’t have a monopoly on the mobile app market and that Epic has to pay for violating App Store rules.
• The one thing Apple can no longer do is steer iOS users away from learning about alternate payment options that apps offer for services and products.

On that point, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted that the anti-steering policy now “frees iOS developers to send consumers to the web to do business with them directly there” and that “We’re working on the next step.”

It’s a ruling that Spotify will likely be happy about too as it tries to pick up its audiobook business.