A group of app developers has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, following a court ruling against the company for violating a 2021 injunction involving mobile purchases.Â
The class action, filed on May 2, alleges that despite the injunction, Apple continued to block app developers from pointing users to in-app purchases and subscriptions outside of the company's own ecosystem, so that it wouldn't lose out on the 30% fee it charges to developers.
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The class action is the latest turn in a legal saga that primarily pitted Epic Games, the publisher of Fortnite, against the world's largest tech company. A concurrent battle has been going on between Epic, Samsung and Google over access to app storefronts.Â
The law firm Hagens Berman filed the suit and named Pure Sweat Basketball as its primary plaintiff. Pure Sweat Basketball has a free app for improving basketball skills. The suit says Apple prevented the company from linking to a subscription page from its mobile app.Â
"As a result of Apple's misconduct, attorneys estimate that potentially more than 100,000 similarly situated app developers were prevented from selling in-app products (including subscriptions) directly to their customers, and were forced to pay Apple commissions on in-app sales that Apple was not entitled to receive," a representative for Hagens Berman said in a post about the suit.Â
The way app stores from Apple and Google govern the way subscriptions and in-app purchases are handled has long been a controversial issue with developers. In 2020 and 2021, Apple and Google, respectively, lowered the 30% cut they take to 15%, but only for developers whose apps are making less than $1 million.Â
That change wasn't enough to stave off charges of anticompetitive practices. Apple continued to prevent developers from steering users outside their apps, where they could increase their profit margin or offer discounts on in-app purchases or subscriptions. Last week, a judge ruled that Apple violated its injunction and needs to comply immediately.
 A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Â
Amid the news, Florida Representative Kat Cammack introduced a bill to the US House of Representatives called the App Store Freedom Act. According to a blog post on Cammack's website, the bill would "allow users to set third-party apps or app stores as default; install apps or app stores outside of the dominant platform; and remove or hide pre-installed apps. Additionally, the bill directs companies provide developers equal access to interfaces, features, and development tools without cost or discrimination."
Part of the global picture
Another challenge for Apple is that it's applying different rules to its App Store and other technologies in different regions. In particular, Apple has had to make major changes to its iOS operating system and open up its marketplaces differently in other regions compared to the US.
"This is not just a US phenomenon; it interacts with what's happening in Europe and the UK and there's increasing pressure to change," said Sumit Sharma, executive director of the nonprofit NextGen Competition.Â
Apple, Sharma said, will continue to gain revenue as it draws out these legal challenges. "Apple is putting off the inevitable for as long as its can, but every every month it's generating these monopoly rents."Â
Sharma said that there's a clear benefit for users to save money when they're given the option to make purchases or add subscriptions outside of the App Store ecosystem. But the company is protecting a legacy revenue stream for as long as it can, even if it risks legal penalties and class-action suits.
"Instead of focusing on fighting this abstraction, (Apple) should really be focusing on innovating," he said.