Apple Faces New Class Action Over Alleged Defiance of App Store Injunction

Apple is facing fresh legal trouble after a proposed class action lawsuit filed Friday in federal court alleged the tech giant ignored a court order designed to loosen its grip on App Store payments, leading developers to incur inflated commission costs for over a year.

The lawsuit, brought by app developer Pure Sweat Basketball, claims that Apple continued to enforce restrictive policies in violation of a 2021 injunction intended to allow developers greater freedom to direct users to external payment options. According to Reuters, the legal filing estimates that Apple’s actions caused “hundreds of millions or even billions” in losses to potentially over 100,000 developers.

Filed in the U.S. District Court in Oakland, the case comes on the heels of an April 30 ruling by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who determined that Apple had “willfully” violated her prior order in a related case brought by “Fortnite” developer Epic Games. That ruling found Apple had introduced a new 27% fee for out-of-app transactions—an action Judge Rogers deemed contrary to the intent of her injunction, which took effect in January 2024.

Per Reuters, the injunction was originally issued to curb Apple’s dominance over in-app purchases by allowing developers to bypass the App Store’s standard commission structure, typically around 30%, and guide consumers to alternative purchasing methods.

Related: Apple Violated Court Order on App Store Payments, Faces Possible Criminal Probe

In its complaint, Pure Sweat claimed that Apple had blocked one of its apps in 2023 because it included links to purchase video and workout content outside the App Store. The filing accused Apple of scheming to preserve its lucrative in-app revenue stream, despite the court order.

“Apple schemed to maintain the status quo, as if no Injunction had entered,” the lawsuit alleged, adding that developers had been deprived of the benefits Judge Rogers’ ruling was meant to secure.

Attorney Steve Berman, representing Pure Sweat, said in a statement that the team is focused on “obtaining justice” for developers affected by Apple’s alleged misconduct. Meanwhile, Apple has denied any wrongdoing and filed an appeal on Monday, Reuters reported. The company has not yet issued a formal response to the latest lawsuit.

In a potentially serious development, Judge Rogers has referred Apple and one of its executives to federal prosecutors to consider a criminal contempt investigation, according to court records.