What you need to know
- Apple and Epic Games are going back to court on Tuesday.
- At 2 pm PT there will be a hearing on Apple's motion to delay an injunction against the company.
- Apple says the immediate implementation of the measure would upset the integrity of the iOS ecosystem.
Apple and Epic Games will collide in court once more on Tuesday, as the Cupertino company seeks a delay of the injunction granted against it at trial earlier this year.
In September a judge ruled in favor of Apple regarding nine of the 10 counts filed by Epic, stating that its iOS App Store operation wasn't a monopoly. The court did however rule that Apple should be "permanently restrained and enjoined from prohibiting developers from including in their apps and their metadata buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms"
The ruling pushed Apple to make changes to its developers guidelines in October, with developers no longer precluded from telling users about other ways to pay for digital goods and services. The measure previously stopped apps like Spotify and Netflix from telling customers where they could pay for their services. Apple told the court in a recent filing that it had already complied with one half of the court's injunction by doing this, but has moved to stay the other half regarding the prohibition of in-app buttons, external links, or other calls to action. Apple says "the immediate implementation of that aspect of the injunction would upset the integrity of the iOS ecosystem" and is seeking a delay to the move.
Apple has previously told the court that it hopes to adjust its App Store landscape such that a court ruling against the company is not required and says steps taken show "that the company is working in good faith to improve consumers' access to information in a way that will preserve the integrity of the ecosystem."
The court will hear Apple's case on November 9 at 2 pm local time. Both Apple and Epic Games have also appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit, a process that could take years to shake out.
