Apple won’t be allowing developers to implement in-app links to external payment methods this week. The company won a reprieve today that will allow it to postpone until its appeal for the antitrust lawsuit with Epic Games has concluded.
The court order handed out to Apple in September instructed it to lift a ban that prohibited developers from offering alternate payment methods. The ban was set to be ceased on Dec. 9 at 2 pm CT, but it will now be moved back to a later date, which will be sometime after Apple’s legal battle with Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has concluded.
Apple claims in a statement that the addition of in-app third-party payment methods could open up new “privacy and security risks” and cause problems with the user experience of customers on the App Store.
“Apple has demonstrated, at minimum, that its appeal raises serious questions on the merits of the district court’s determination that Epic Games, Inc. failed to show Apple’s conduct violated any antitrust laws but did show that the same conduct violated California’s Unfair Competition Law,” the latest ruling reads. “Therefore, we grant Apple’s motion to stay part (i) of paragraph (1) of the permanent injunction. The stay will remain in effect until the mandate issues in this appeal.”
This motion will now remain on hold until the appeals court can hear and reevaluate the case.
