Apple Loses Bid to Pause Third-Party Payments in Its App Store

An appeals court this week rejected Apple’s request to pause a ruling that requires the company to let developers point app users to external payment methods.

Apple was forced to make changes to its App Store policies in April, but it quickly appealed and asked the court to issue a stay while that appeal made its way through the court. On Wednesday, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled said no.

“Apple ‘bears the burden of showing that the circumstances justify an exercise of [our] discretion.’ After reviewing the relevant factors, we are not persuaded that a stay is appropriate,” it said.

This isn’t the end of the appeals process, but it means Apple will need to abide by the original ruling for the foreseeable future. An Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg, “As we’ve said before, we strongly disagree with the district court’s opinion. Our goal is to ensure the App Store remains an incredible opportunity for developers and a safe and trusted experience for our users.”

The case dates back to 2020 when Epic Games sued Apple over its 30% in-app tax. This week, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney cheered the latest ruling. “May next week’s WWDC be the Apple-led celebration of freedom that developers and users have long deserved,” he tweeted.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Since the changes were made last month, we’ve seen the return of Epic Games’ Fortnite in the App Store and updates to popular apps like Kindle and Spotify bringing in third-party payment methods.

Chris Best , CEO of newsletter app Substack, says the changes are “fantastic” for independent media. “It just means that you’ve always been able to discover things in the Substack app, and you have options for how you charge for it now, which we think is a big win for independent media,” he said during The Information’s The Future of Influence event.

About James Peckham

Reporter

I’ve written tech news for over a decade, and as a Reporter at PCMag, I cover the latest developments across the gadgets and services you use every day. Previously, I worked for Android Police, TechRadar, and more.

Read James’s full bio

Read the latest from James Peckham