The judge does not require Apple to allow alternative payment methods for the time being

Apple does not have to offer alternative payment systems in the App Store on iOS for the time being. The company is allowed to await the appeal in the case against Epic Games. In the meantime, it doesn’t have to change anything.

The judge in the Court of Appeal says in the ruling that Apple does not have to allow alternative payment methods for the time being. In doing so, the judge overturns an earlier ruling. The ruling comes from an appeal in the Epic Games case against Apple. Epic demands that Apple allow alternative app stores on iOS, and that the company allows alternative payment methods in apps. The judge partially agreed with Epic. Apple therefore had to start allowing external payment methods within the App Store. That rule went into effect immediately and had to be followed.

Both Epic and Apple appealed the ruling. Apple wanted not only a different ruling, but also a postponement of the policy until such a final decision was made. The Court of Appeal now agrees with Apple: Apple may remain the only party that offers in-app purchases on iOS for the time being.

The Verge writes that the new ruling does not cancel the old one, but that enforcement of the policy is temporarily halted. This happens until the appeal court can hear the full case. That could take months or possibly even years.

According to the Court of Appeal, Apple has shown that there are “serious question marks” about the basis of the earlier appeal. The ruling applies to offering payment methods, but not to linking to them. Apple started doing that a few weeks ago. This happened at the behest of another case law of the Japanese trade watchdog, which obliged Apple to do so. Under those rules, developers of ‘reader apps’ are only allowed to post a link to, for example, a website where users can take out a subscription without commission. Games are not covered by those regulations.