AndroGuider | One Stop For The Techy You!Apple Wants 15% Fee on External iOS Purchases Despite App…
انتشار: 2026/08/14 20:13 UTCدریافت: 2026/08/15 15:05 UTCآخرین مشاهده: 2026/08/15 15:05 UTC
AndroGuider | One Stop For The Techy You!Apple Wants 15% Fee on External iOS Purchases Despite App Store Bypass Rulingai4chat-files.s3.amazonaws.com/images/ima… TL;DR* Apple has asked a federal judge to allow it to charge up to a 15% commission on purchases made via external links in iOS apps, arguing it is entitled to compensation for its platform and intellectual property even when transactions happen outside the App Store.* The request comes after Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled Apple violated a 2021 injunction requiring it to allow developers to steer users to alternative payment options without fees or restrictive warnings.* If approved, the fee would significantly blunt the impact of the App Store bypass ruling for developers and consumers, while setting a major precedent for how far Apple's control over the iOS economy extends. A Familiar Fight With a New Price TagApple is back in court trying to preserve its cut of iOS transactions, even those it doesn't directly process. In a new filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the company is asking Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to modify the injunction in the Epic Games v. Apple case to let it collect a commission of up to 15% on purchases made through external links — the very links Apple was ordered to allow free of charge.The proposal marks the latest escalation in a five-year antitrust battle over who controls the iPhone economy, and how much that control is worth. While Apple frames the fee as a fair licensing charge, critics say it's an attempt to claw back the revenue the court explicitly told it to give up. How We Got Here: The Anti-Steering InjunctionThe current dispute traces back to the 2021 ruling in Epic v. Apple. While Apple won on most antitrust counts, Judge Gonzalez Rogers issued a key injunction: Apple could no longer prohibit developers from directing users to alternative payment methods outside the App Store — so-called anti-steering rules.Apple complied in a narrow way, allowing external links but imposing a 27% commission on outside purchases (12% for Small Business Program members), along with warning screens and strict design requirements for the links. Developers and Epic argued this made the alternative effectively meaningless.On April 30, 2025, Gonzalez Rogers agreed. In a scathing contempt order, she found Apple had willfully violated the injunction, that its 27% fee and scare screens were designed to maintain its anticompetitive revenue stream, and ordered Apple to immediately stop collecting any commission on external purchases and to drop its restrictions on how developers present those links. She also referred Apple and one of its executives to federal prosecutors for potential criminal contempt.Apple appealed to the Ninth Circuit and has continued to fight the order. The new 15% proposal is its attempt to get the court to walk back the zero-commission requirement. What Apple Is Actually Proposing NowIn its latest motion, Apple is no longer defending the 27% rate. Instead, it is asking the court for permission to charge a reduced, tiered commission of up to 15% on web purchases initiated from within an iOS app.According to the filing, Apple argues that a zero-commission model amounts to a compulsory free license of its intellectual property. The company contends it provides immense value — including app distribution, discovery, development tools like Xcode and Swift, APIs, and security and privacy protections — that makes the external transaction possible in the first place, even if payment is completed on the web.Under the proposed framework, Apple would charge 15% for standard developers and a lower rate for small businesses and subscription renewals after one year, mirroring the structure of its in-app App Store rates but at roughly half the cost. The co[...]