A judge just blew up Apple’s control of the App Store

Epic Games v. Apple judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers just ruled that, effective immediately, Apple is no longer allowed to collect fees on purchases made outside apps and blocks the company from restricting how developers can point users to where they can make purchases outside of apps.

The ruling was issued as part of Epic Games’ ongoing legal dispute against Apple, and it’s a major victory for Epic’s arguments. The judge also referred the case to the US attorney to review it for possible criminal contempt proceedings.

 As part of the ruling, Judge Rogers says that Apple cannot:

• Impose “any commission or any fee on purchases that consumers make outside an app”
• Restrict developers’ style, formatting, or placement of links for purchases outside of an app
• Block or limit the “use of buttons or other calls to action”
• Interfere with consumers’ choice to leave an app with anything beyond “a neutral message apprising users that they are going to a third-party site”

Developing…