Apple is making big App Store changes, but only in the U.S.

As the dust settles on this round of the Apple v. Epic trial, there are a few key deliberations that are worth noting and will have rippling effects for all Apple users.

Right now, the injunction seems to only apply to the U.S. App Store, but since Apple was given trouble for not fully complying with previous rulings, I do wonder if it will be forced to expand App Store changes globally at some point.

The main change is that a U.S. judge has ruled that Apple is no longer allowed to take a 27 per cent cut of revenue when purchases are made on the web. The judge also threatened the company with criminal repercussions for lying about how it would implement web payments back in 2021.

We will return Fortnite to the US iOS App Store next week.

Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic. https://t.co/bIRTePm0Tv

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 30, 2025

Leading out of this latest injunction, the judge mandated Apple to stop restricting how developers can format their payment screen in their apps. Further, Apple can no longer block developers from linking outside of the apps to external payment platforms. Basically, everything Spotify and Epic have been fighting Apple for since 2019 is now coming to fruition.

Apple has said it will appeal this, but for the time being, it seems like Spotify is updating its app in the U.S. and Epic Games is planning to bring Fortnite back to Apple platforms. However, these rules seem to only apply in the U.S., with Canadians still unable to see Spotify’s subscription prices in the app.

Welp – Apple sticking to the minimum possible compliance it can get away with. Changes apply to USA storefront only. 🙁 Now looking forward to the parallel Australian Epic/Class Action having its ruling handed down. pic.twitter.com/nK880WzzQz

— Graham Dawson (@gpdawson) May 2, 2025

It remains to be seen if this ruling will be pushed out to other parts of the world since Apple is a U.S.-based company or if Canadians must rely on our own government and court system to force Apple to play fairly. The E.U. recently went through a variety of court cases against Apple to open up the App Store there as well. There are also reports that Apple executive Phil Schiller has been fighting for the company to drop these fees globally, but Cook and other upper management of Apple are pushing against it.

Beyond Spotify and Epic Games, Patreon has also welcomed the ruling and announced a slate of positive changes it can now implement since it doesn’t need to comply with Apple’s super strict payment rules.

Source: CNBC, The Verge, Reuters