Friday, November 8, 2024

Apple and Epic clash over third-party app store

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The saga continues.

Apple and Epic are at it once again, this time in a dispute over an Epic third-party app store designed for Apple devices.

Taking to Twitter, Epic said on Friday night that “Apple has rejected our Epic Games Store notarization submission twice now, claiming the design and position of Epic’s ‘Install’ button is too similar to Apple’s ‘Get’ button and that our ‘In-app purchases’ label is too similar to the App Store’s ‘In-App Purchases’ label.

“We are using the same ‘Install’ and ‘In-app purchases’ naming conventions that are used across popular app stores on multiple platforms, and are following standard conventions for buttons in iOS apps. We’re just trying to build a store that mobile users can easily understand, and the disclosure of in-app purchases is a regulatory best practice followed by all stores nowadays.

“Apple’s rejection is arbitrary, obstructive, and in violation of the DMA, and we’ve shared our concerns with the European Commission. Barring further roadblocks from Apple, we remain ready to launch in the Epic Games Store and Fortnite on iOS in the EU in the next couple of months.”

Epic later followed up with an update that read, “Apple has told some press channels that, though they have approved our current EGS iOS App for notarization, they are still demanding Epic change the user interface in a future version. Epic is disputing this.”

Speaking with NBC News, an Apple representative has confirmed the third-party store’s approval, and the request for changes to further differentiate the official Apple App Store from the Epic third-party one.

We’ll update you on this story as it develops.

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