Epic Games, Spotify, and several other companies have announced the launch of the Coalition for App Fairness. 

Based in Washington DC and Brussels, the group includes the company behind Fortnite and Rocket League, Epic Games, along with music streaming giant Spotify, and Basecamp, Blix, Blockchain.com, Deezer, European Publishers Council, Match, News Media Europe, PrePear, Protonmail, SkyDemon, and Tile. 

The organisation has been formed to take on Apple over its app store policies, and will encourage both legal and regulatory action against the tech behemoth. Principally, the coalition is arguing that developers should not be forced to use app stores designed by the platform, use ancillary services, or required to use stipulated payment systems. 

Taking aim at Apple’s policies that have led it into direct and very public conflict with Epic, the Coalition for App Fairness has stated:

“No developer should be required to pay unfair, unreasonable or discriminatory fees or revenue shares, nor be required to sell within its app anything it doesn’t wish to sell, as a condition to gain access to the app store.”

It has also started referring to Apple’s royalty for apps sold through its app store as the “30% App Tax” – pointing out that, though Google also levies a similar charge on apps sold through Google Play for Android, other stores are permitted to exist and compete within the ecosystem, unlike in the Apple controlled iOS device ecosystem. 

Though tensions have been rising for some time, things spilled into open conflict in August, when Epic released an update enabling it to sell directly to iOS users, completely bypassing Apple’s payment system. In response Apple removed Fortnite from its app store, prompting Epic to launch legal action, which is ongoing. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s hard to see how Apple can win this fight. With some huge names already on board with the Coalition for App Fairness, we expect more will “smell blood” and join over the coming months, pitting Apple against brands that probably command more respect and loyalty from consumers than Apple does. 

Ultimately, whatever the courts decide, the real outcome will be decided by consumers voting with their feet (or fingers). 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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