Apple has clarified the situation with the WordPress iOS app, apologizing for the mistake of blocking developer updates to the app until they added in-app purchases, despite the app not including any functionality involving payments. On Friday, it was reported the lack of app updates for the WordPress app were due to it being “locked” Read more about Apple apologises to WordPress for forcing in-app purchases and U-turns[…]

A Federal US judge questioned why Apple takes a 30 per cent slice of developer revenues as she ruled that while Apple cannot cut off Epic’s access to iOS Unreal Engine development tools, she would not order the company to allow Fortnite to return to the App Store. In the eight-page order [PDF], Yvonne Gonzalez Read more about Epic move: Judge says Apple can’t revoke Unreal Engine dev tools, asks ‘Where does the 30 per cent come from?’[…]

Microsoft’s Kevin Gammill, general manager of Gaming Developer Experiences, called Epic’s Unreal Engine “critical technology” in a filing at the weekend [PDF] in support of Epic’s motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent Apple from terminating its developer account. Referring to the statement, Xbox supremo Phil Spencer tweeted yesterday to say “ensuring that Epic Read more about Microsoft sides with Epic over Apple developer ban, supports motion for temporary restraining order[…]

As PC Gamer’s Fortnite guy, I’ve written many a guide to Epic’s various tournaments, cash cups, and special events, but few have ever been as weird as this one. On Thursday evening, Epic announced the #FreeFortnite Cup, a new tournament seemingly designed to continue Epic’s campaign against Apple and Google. Barring a legal miracle, it’s Read more about Epic Games start Free Fortnite cup time with awesome prizes incl a rotten apple skin[…]

WordPress, the iOS app, lets you build and manage a website right from your iPhone or iPad, for free. Separately, WordPress.com also happens to sell domain names and fancier website packages. Now, WordPress founding developer Matt Mullenweg is accusing Apple of cutting off the ability to update that app — until or unless he adds Read more about Apple cut off updates to completely free WordPress app until it adds in app purchases because it wants 30 percent[…]

Major news organizations are joining Epic Games in the push for Apple to rethink its app store terms following Fortnite’s high-profile ban this month. Digital Content Next, a trade organization representing the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and dozens of other media outlets and publishers (including yours truly, G/O Media), Read more about News outlets join Epic in challenging Apple’s app store terms[…]

Everyone is mad about Apple’s App Store guidelines right now, especially when it comes to cloud gaming services. Microsoft isn’t bringing Project xCloud to iOS. Google’s Stadia app can’t let iPhone users actually play games. Facebook also had to axe the ability to play games for its Facebook Gaming iOS app to be allowed in Read more about Fortnight Has Laid a Perfect Antitrust Trap for Apple and Google[…]

Following a year-long investigation into the company, Reuters reports Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has found the iPhone-maker abused its dominant position in the mobile app marketplace and will order Apple to resolve multiple regulatory breaches. The agency started investigating the tech giant after developer Kaspersky Lab filed a complaint over the rejection of its Read more about Russia’s antitrust watchdog finds Apple abused App Store ‘dominance’[…]

Apple has another antitrust charge on its plate. Messaging app Telegram has joined Spotify in filing a formal complaint against the iOS App Store in Europe — adding its voice to a growing number of developers willing to publicly rail against what they decry as Apple’s app “tax”. A spokesperson for Telegram confirmed the complaint Read more about Telegram hits out at Apple’s app store ‘tax’ in latest EU antitrust complaint[…]

Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), who ended Wednesday’s hearing by saying some Big Tech companies need to be broken up, told Axios that Facebook in particular lacks significant competitors and should not have been allowed to buy Instagram and WhatsApp. Why it matters: Cicilline chairs the antitrust subcommittee, which has been looking into competition issues in Read more about Top antitrust Democrat: There’s a case to break up Facebook – The guys were rambling, the women clear. Apple dodges most bullets, CEOs acting like confused guilty schoolboys[…]

When a customer gets refunded for an app they purchased, Apple doesn’t refund the 30% cut they took from the developer, says developer Simeon Saens of Two Lives Left. While [online] payment processors generally don’t refund fees on refunded payments, “the App Store doesn’t position itself as a payments processor the way Stripe does, so Read more about When a Customer Gets Refunded For a Paid App, Apple Doesn’t Refund the 30% Cut They Took From The Developer[…]

A US House antitrust committee is getting set to grill tech’s biggest CEOs, but Microsoft wants them to focus on one in particular: Apple’s Tim Cook. Microsoft President Brad Smith met with the committee several weeks ago and relayed concerns about how Apple manages its App Store, according to the The Information (via Bloomberg). Smith Read more about Microsoft raised Apple’s app store with US house antitrust group[…]

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Fortnite developer Epic Games, criticized Apple and Google for having an “absolute monopoly” on app stores in a Friday interview with CNBC. There aren’t many viable options for distributing mobile software outside the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, and Sweeney chides both for taking a 30 percent fee Read more about Epic Games CEO speaks out against Apple, Google app store monopoly[…]

Apple has said it has decided not to implement 16 web APIs in its Safari browser’s WebKit engine in part because they pose a privacy threat. Critics of the iGiant, including competitors like Google, see Apple’s stance as a defense against a competitive threat. These APIs, developed in recent years to allow web developers to Read more about Apple: We’re defending your privacy by nixing 16 browser APIs. Rivals: You mean defending your bottom line[…]

The European Commission has launched two separate antitrust investigations into Apple, focused on the App Store and Apple Pay. The executive branch of the European Union said it would consider App Store rules that force developers to use its own payment and in-app purchase system. In a press release, the Commission referenced a complaint filed Read more about Apple Pay and the App Store are under EU antitrust investigation[…]

As predicted, the proprietary locking system Apple rolled out with its 2018 MacBook Pros is hurting independent repair stores, refurbishers, and electronics recyclers. A combination of secure software locks, diagnostic requirements, and Apple’s new T2 security chip are making it hard to breathe new life into old MacBook Pros that have been recycled but could Read more about Apple’s T2 Security Chip ensure used laptops become unrecyclable junk, a Nightmare for MacBook Refurbishers[…]

Apple has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by folks upset the iGiant broke FaceTime overnight on millions of iPhones. The settlement amounts to a few bucks a device, meaning the Cupertino giant almost certainly made a net profit in the process. This week the Tim Cook-led corporation said it would pay $18m [PDF] Read more about Apple chucks $3 at iPhone users after killing FaceTime on iOS 6 because it didn’t want to pay connectivity charges after 6 year legal fight[…]

Apple has been hit with a record-breaking fine for antitrust practices. French competition authority Autorité de la Concurrence has found Apple and its wholesale distribution partners Ingram Micro and Tech Data guilty of running a cartel for Apple products, and has fined the companies €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion), €62.9 million ($70.2 million) and €76.1 million Read more about Apple hit with record-breaking $1.2 billion antitrust price fixing fine in France together with Ingram Micro ($79.2m) and Tech Data ($85m)[…]

Apple – which banked $55bn profit in its 2019 fiscal year – is willing to pay up to $500m to settle US claims that the company secretly slowed certain iPhone models to preserve battery life, according to a proposed class action settlement. That’s about 18x more than the i-thing maker agreed to pay a month Read more about Apple pays piffling $500m to settle their performance decreases in old devices[…]