Apple has successfully won a delay on enforcement of a court injunction that would require it to allow App Store developers to provide customers with alternative means of purchasing in-app content.
This injunction was the one sticking point against Apple in the final ruling of Epic v. Apple. A federal judge broadly ruled against Epic Games in the civil trial, saying that Apple’s actions were not monopolistic, and that Epic Games had violated the company’s terms of service.
Even with the victory, Apple appealed the injunction to the Ninth Court of Appeals, though it had originally been ordered to abide by the injunction by December 9th. It appealed that requirement on the grounds that preparing such compliance would take time, and it would seem the Ninth Circuit agreed.
In a ruling obtained by 9to5Mac, the Ninth Circuit’s 3-judge panel wrote that “Apple has demonstrated, at minimum, that its appeal raises serious questionson the merits of the district court’s determination that Epic Games, Inc. failed to show Apple’s conduct violated any antitrust laws butdid show that the same conduct violated California’s Unfair Competition Law.”
“Therefore, we grant Apple’s motion to stay part (i) of paragraph(1) of the permanent injunction.”
Developers are still allowed to inform users they may purchase in-app purchases on platforms outside of their iOS App. Apple just isn’t required to alter its terms of service as of yet.