U.S. Judge finds Apple in violation of App Store competition ruling

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said on Wednesday in an 80-page ruling that Apple violated a court order that required it to allow greater competition for app downloads and payment methods in its App Store. The iPhone maker failed to comply with the judge’s prior injunction order, which was imposed in an antitrust lawsuit by Fortune maker Epic Games.

The U.S. Judge noted it’s up to the executive branch to decide whether the iPhone maker should be deprived of its violation, in addition to any penalty geared to deter future misconduct. Gonzalez revealed that the tech company is immediately barred from impeding developers’ ability to communicate on off-app purchases. 

Court rules Apple violated an order to reform App Store

Judge says Apple didn’t follow the ruling on their own, so now she will force them to. AKA induction.

And refers the case to The US Attorney General for potential Criminal Contempt of Court. pic.twitter.com/9jJ8YMKeOk

— Ryan Jones (@rjonesy) May 1, 2025

A federal judge in California ruled on May 1 that Apple violated a U.S. court order that required the company to reform its App Store to allow better competition for app downloads and payment methods. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland ruled that the iPhone maker failed to abide by her prior court order, which was imposed in a lawsuit by Epic Games.

Gonzalez Rogers ruled in 2021 that the iPhone maker breached a California competition law and ordered the firm to allow developers more freedom to direct app users to other payment options. Epic Games told the court in March 2024 that Apple was stifling competition for app downloads and overcharging commissions for in-app purchases.

“Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated. This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregards a court order.”

–Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, U.S. Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The government official maintained that she would refer Apple to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation into its conduct in the case.  Gonzalez said the tech firm cannot ask her to pause her ruling “given the repeated delays and severity of the conduct.” 

The iPhone maker company failed last year to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the injunction order. The iPhone maker noted in a court filing on March 7 that it undertook “extensive efforts” to comply with the injunction “while preserving the fundamental features of Apple’s business model and safeguarding consumers.”

Apple’s Vice President of Finance, Alex Roman, testified that the steps the company took to comply with her injunction, which the judge wrote, were “replete with misdirection and outright lies.” Roman acknowledged in a statement that the iPhone maker disagreed with the decision, saying, “We will comply with the court’s order, and we will appeal.”

Epic Games pleased with the court’s ruling on Apple

NO FEES on web transactions. Game over for the Apple Tax.

Apple’s 15-30% junk fees are now just as dead here in the United States of America as they are in Europe under the Digital Markets Act. Unlawful here, unlawful there.

4 years 4 months 17 days. https://t.co/RucrsX7Z4A pic.twitter.com/3kSYnt5pcI

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 30, 2025

Epic Games said Apple was “blatantly” violating the court’s order by adding a new 27% fee on app developers when Apple customers complete an app purchase outside the App Store. The American tech company charges developers a 30% commission fee for purchases within the App Store.

The game developer also alleged that the iPhone maker began displaying messages warning customers of the potential danger of external links to deter non-Apple payments. Epic Games called the iPhone maker’s new system “commercially unusable.”

The game developer’s Chief Executive, Tim Sweeney, called the judge’s order a significant win for developers and consumers. He told reporters the injunction forces the tech giant to compete with other payment services rather than blocking them, “and this is what we wanted all along.”

The gaming company’s official said Epic Games would aim to bring back Fortnite to the App Store next week. The iPhone maker pulled Epic’s account after the firm had let iPhone users navigate outside Apple’s ecosystem for better payment deals.