Juli Clover writing for MacRumors:

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers, who has been handling the Apple vs. ‌Epic Games‌ dispute for the last five years, said that Apple is in “willful violation” of the injunction she issued to prohibit anticompetitive conduct and pricing. “Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated,” reads the ruling.

For background, ‌Epic Games‌ in 2024 accused Apple of violating the 2021 anti-steering injunction. Apple did allow developers to put a single link in their apps that leads to a website where customers can make a purchase without using the in-app purchase system, but Apple continued to charge a commission, requiring developers to pay between 12 and 27 percent for purchases made using these in-app links.

‌Epic Games‌ asked that Apple be held in contempt of court for failing to comply with the order due to the fee and other strict rules surrounding the single link option available to developers. Apple, meanwhile, claimed that it was fully in compliance with the injunction, but the judge sided with ‌Epic Games‌. In fact, the ruling is not at all favorable to Apple, highlighting in stark language how the Cupertino company failed to comply with the order.

This has been a long time coming for Apple. It’s great news for developers, especially indie developers.

Apple has said they will appeal the order, they should have taken the high road years ago. Let’s see what happens, but you reap what you sow.