Tech Titans Gang Up to Call Out Apple's Shady App Store Moves

A squad of tech’s biggest heavy hitters – we’re talking Meta, Microsoft, Twitter (now gloriously renamed to X), and dating app juggernaut Match Group – are straight-up ganging up on Apple over some alleged shady business regarding its stranglehold on the iOS app economy.

The Major Players Say Apple’s ‘Compliance’ Plan Is A Straight-Up Sham

In a legal filing dripping with huge “you up?” energy, these titans claim Apple’s big proposed plan to comply with a court order forcing it to open up the App Store ecosystem is an elaborate sham. We’re talking about an order specifically designed to finally unlock legit competition by making Apple allow apps to straight-up tell users about alternative pricing and discount deals outside Apple’s infamously iron-fisted systems.

Sure, that order ultimately got upheld by the Supreme Court earlier this year after Apple did everything short of paying Gwyneth Paltrow to intervene. But now Meta, Microsoft, and the whole gang claim Apple’s so-called “compliance” proposal defies the entire spirit and intent behind that court ruling in shamelessly anti-competitive ways.

Accusations of Dodging Court Orders and Keeping Competition Locked Out

Don’t just take their word for it, either. The filing goes straight for the jugular, accusing Apple of “willfully circumventing” the original order through a new set of App Store rules that “ensure the price competition that the injunction was designed to promote will never materialize.”

It alleges Apple is still imposing a laundry list of overbearing restrictions on how apps can inform users about cheaper, alternative payment options and sweet promotional deals outside of Apple’s notoriously pricey systems and fees.

For example, Meta’s out here saying it should be able to freely let Facebook and Instagram users know about discounted ways to pay for “boosted posts” through other platforms, rather than being strong-armed into using Apple’s steep in-app purchase tolls.

Devs and Users Everywhere Could Get Screwed If Apple Keeps Playin’

But the impact could be much more widespread than just a few selective examples. The filing’s motion warns that Apple’s shadily revamped proposal “will have broad real-world impacts on all app developers and their users — not just gaming apps.”

Microsoft claims it’ll be blocked from pointing its users toward its platforms, rockin’ better promotions and discounts. X is sounding the alarm that this whole scheme could eat into revenue streams for all the incredibly talented independent creators using the platform. Even the dating crowd’s not safe, with Match Group alleging Apple’s power move could affect “many thousands of other developers and their millions of users” across the board.

So while Apple’s out here acting as they’ve fully complied with the court order, this united front of tech’s most giant bosses is leaving no doubts – the high-stakes battle over the App Store’s future is raging harder than ever. Despite the Supreme Court punting on the case and new European regulations shaking things up, Apple seems determined to begrudgingly “comply” in solely technical ways designed to keep the status quo and actual competition suppressed.

The filing is setting the stage for this clash to keep escalating. Apple may have emerged from the Epic Games case thinking they’re slick, but these allegations that they’re still shamelessly skirting the spirit of the law to maintain their iron grip cano blow up into amuchy bigger legal nightmare. Let’s see how it all shakes out.