Apple filed a notice of appeal in the Epic Games case and is asking for a stay on the injunction that lets developers add in-app links to payment websites, according to company representatives and documents filed on Friday, October 8.
If Apple wins the stay, which will be decided by a judge in November, a rule change potentially allowing developers to circumvent App Store fees of 15% to 30% may not take effect until appeals in the case have finished, a process that could take years.
In September, federal judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled in favor of Apple for nine of 10 counts in an antitrust trial brought by Epic, the maker of Fortnite. Epic was seeking the ability to install its own app store on iPhones. Kate Adams, Apple’s general counsel, said at the time the ruling was a “huge win.”
Related: Court Issues Mixed Ruling in Epic v. Apple Antitrust Trial
But Apple was also ordered to make a major change to its store and allow mobile apps to steer consumers to outside payment methods, potentially providing a way to evade Apple’s App Store fees.
That injunction is currently scheduled to go into effect on December 9.
Apple hasn’t publicly explained how its App Store policies would change under the order, but some developers have already started to build software based on their interpretation of the ruling.
“At a high level, it is my judgment that, without thoughtful restrictions in place to protect consumers, developers, and the iOS platform, this change will harm users, developers, and the iOS platform more generally,” Trystan Kosmynka, Apple’s senior director of App Review, said in a filing on Friday.
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