A United States district judge has ruled that Apple violated an injunction in its antitrust legal battle against Epic Games, potentially transforming the landscape for crypto app developers. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stated in an April 30 court filing that Apple's anticompetitive conduct and pricing would no longer be tolerated, emphasizing that Apple must immediately cease impeding developers' ability to communicate with users or imposing commissions on off-app purchases.

The ruling explicitly prohibits Apple from imposing any fees on purchases made outside an app and restricts them from monitoring or tracking such transactions. Developers now have the freedom to design links that direct users to external purchase options without Apple's interference. This encompasses all app categories and developers, preventing Apple from selectively granting link access.

Following the court's decision, Apple updated its guidelines, a move perceived by some as grudgingly compliant. Ariel Michaeli, CEO of Appfigures, noted that the language used by Apple might be confusing. The updated guidelines now allow apps to link to external non-fungible token (NFT) collections, link outside of the App Store without needing specific entitlement, and link to external payment systems, also without requiring entitlement.

Industry commentators such as “Xero” have hailed this as a bullish development for mobile crypto games and apps. Alex Masmej echoed this sentiment, underscoring the significance of the ruling for the crypto space.

In a related development, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney proposed a peace offering: if Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, Epic would relaunch Fortnite on the App Store globally and drop all current and future litigation on the matter. This follows an earlier rejection by Justice Elena Kagan of Epic's request for an immediate effect of a federal appeals court decision in August 2023.

Separately, in gadget news, a 9to5Mac reader, Mike Taylor, shared his experience of how his Apple Watch potentially saved his life, when mild shortness of breath escalated into a life-threatening emergency, highlighting the importance of users properly setting up their devices.