I wrote for Naavik about a major court ruling forcing Apple to loosen its control over App Store payments. Read the full article here.

Why I wrote about this

The Apple–Epic saga has dragged on for years, so writing about it can feel like beating a dead horse. Still, this ruling finally moved the needle in a meaningful way.

The gist of it

A U.S. court ruled that Apple was in wilful violation of a 2021 injunction meant to loosen its grip on App Store payments. The new decision removes many of Apple’s key restrictions: developers can now link directly to external payment systems from inside their apps without Apple charging fees or inserting heavy friction into the process.

For years, developers technically had the option to use external payments, but Apple’s policies made it impractical. Developers couldn’t promote external purchasing inside apps, direct links were restricted, and Apple introduced a 27% commission on off-app purchases. This led to an entire “workaround era,” where publishers built loyalty portals, web shops, and creative marketing funnels just to steer players outside Apple’s payment rails.

With the new ruling, those workarounds may no longer be necessary. Developers can place straightforward links to web shops, and early estimates suggest external payments could rise from roughly 20–30% of revenue today to as much as 50% for savvy publishers. Payment providers like Stripe and Epic are already racing to offer new tooling, while companies like Spotify quickly launched browser-based checkout flows.

Key takeaways

  • Developers can now link directly to external payment systems inside apps, eliminating many of the friction tactics Apple previously used to discourage them.
  • This could meaningfully improve publisher margins, since web payments often carry 3–7% fees compared to Apple’s historic 30% cut.
  • A land grab is underway among payment providers, with Stripe, Epic, and others rushing to build tooling for in-app-to-web purchase flows.
  • Owning customer relationships becomes even more valuable, as web shops enable email capture, loyalty programs, and direct player communication.
  • Apple will fight this hard, since App Store payments represent a high-margin profit engine worth billions annually.