We’re well aware of the drama going on with major companies and the app stores they run. Major companies like Google and Apple charge an additional fee when users make purchases using their payment processors. This is something that both companies have been called out on, and one of them just got its just desserts. Apple can no longer force developers to use its payment processor.
Most app storefronts tax every transaction you make while using the apps they provide. That’s not really a big issue. However, Apple and Google have gone overboard and started charging a 30% tax on all transactions. This is why many companies either ask you to go to their websites to complete transactions or have you pay extra when using their apps. Epic Games is one of the main companies that argued against this and fought back.
Apple can no longer force developers to use its payment processor
Apple has muscled its developers into only using its payment processor. This allows the company to take a fee off the top of each transaction that people pay for. Not only that, the company has barred its developers from directing users away from the Apple App Store to other payment methods. That is top-tier anti-competitive behavior. As the icing on the cake, the company was also taking a fee from transactions made that weren’t made through the App Store.
However, a California court has put a stop to this. Apple was forced to make an update to its App Store policy. This it’s no longer to take a fee from purchases that made outside of the Apple Store. This is a good thing for developers whose apps live on third-party app stores.
Along with that, Apple is no longer allowed to stop developers from directing users to external payment processors. So, if a company wants to place a button that directs a user to its own payment system, it can. One reason why subscription prices and in-app purchase prices are so high is that Apple and Google charge such a fee on these transactions.
This means that we should see prices go down for some services on the App Store. It won’t happen to all services, but it should happen for some. Back in 2021, Apple was forced to make this change. However, Epic Games called Apple out for not implementing the change to its policy. This makes Epic Games a hero in this situation.
