In September, the judge ruled that Apple must allow App Store developers to link to third-party payment options, outside of the App Store. As it turns out, the ruling doesn’t affect Apple from enforcing its policy to collect a commission from developers if the user initiated the purchase from within the app.

Apple appealed the ruling Apple-vs-Epic ruling, and the lawsuit is still ongoing. Apple was recently ordered that it must allow App Store developers to display links in apps that would direct users to external payment platforms. The previous ruling was meant to go live from December 9.

In a different legal filing, Apple shows that it still wants to collect all commission fees initiated from within an app (via 9to5Mac). This would allow Apple to get transaction fees, such as the 15-30% cut from developers, even if the transaction itself is made via a third-party payment processor and not Apple’s In-App-Purchase system.

While the recent ruling prevents Apple from blocking developers from displaying external links within apps, it doesn’t stop Apple from demanding and collecting any of these fees from developers. This would clearly undermine the ruling in a completely legal way that would likely have very little impact on Apple’s policies and business.

The document is also presented by David Barnard, and parts of it were highlighted and uploaded to Twitter:

It reads “Apple has not previously charged a commission on purchases of digital content via buttons and links because such purchases have not been permitted. If the injunction were to go into effect, Apple could charge a commission on purchases made through such mechanisms.”

In other news, Google has implemented a similar policy for the Google Play Store, and while it allows developers to use alternative payment systems, it still collects 11% of commission fees on all transactions. The new commission is only 4% less than if developers used the built-in payment processor made by Google, but it could certainly add up in the long term.

Apple iPhone 13

The iPhone 13 series are the latest flagship devices from Apple. It comes with an upgraded A15 Bionic chipset, new cameras, and great new features.