Apple’s back in the hot seat, and this time, it’s the developers turning up the heat with a class action lawsuit. At the heart of the drama? Apple’s supposed sidestep around a court order that was meant to let developers point users to payment options outside the App Store without getting the cold shoulder. Hagens Berman, the law firm leading the charge, isn’t pulling any punches. They’re saying Apple’s stubbornness hit developers where it hurts—their wallets. Take Pure Sweat Basketball, for example. “If Apple had just followed the rules, Pure Sweat could’ve been selling subscriptions directly,” the firm points out, highlighting what could’ve been.
Flashback to 2021: a court ruling was supposed to crack the App Store wide open, giving developers a way to dodge Apple’s infamous 30% cut by linking to other payment methods. But instead of a clear path forward, developers got what Epic Games dubbed “malicious compliance.” Apple’s move? A 27% fee on outside sales and a rulebook on button designs that felt more like a straitjacket than guidelines.
Last week, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers didn’t just call Apple out; she threw the book at them, accusing the tech behemoth of always picking “the most anticompetitive option” and, oh yeah, lying under oath. Now, the class action is aiming to claw back lost earnings for as many as 100,000 developers. And with Hagens Berman’s track record—remember that $100 million they snagged for iOS devs before?—Apple might want to brace for impact.
