Why the court ruling matters, what developers need to know now, and how to forge the best path forward.
This article was originally published on May 27, 2025. Since then, the Ninth Circuit has largely upheld the ruling requiring Apple to allow external payment links, while also saying Apple may pursue a reasonable commission tied to linked-out purchases. This article has been updated to reflect that appeal outcome and the district court framework still to come.
In a landmark ruling on April 30, 2025, a U.S. court permanently barred Apple from forcing developers to use its in-app purchase system, closing a critical chapter in the long-running Epic Games vs. App Store legal saga. (Epic also sued Google in 2020, ultimately resulting in a favorable settlement.)
The court found Apple “willfully violated” a prior injunction from 2021, which stated that the tech giant could not prohibit developers from providing external payment options (through in-app links, i.e., app2web flows) as an alternative to Apple’s in-app purchase system, which carries a stiff 15-30% commission fee.
This change represents more than just a courtroom victory for Epic Games — it’s a paradigm shift for all consumer-facing iOS apps. Every company leveraging in-app transactions, not just those in the gaming industry, stands to benefit enormously.
In this blog, we break down the ruling’s implications, cut through the noise around Apple’s compliance strategy, and share a blueprint for how digital-first companies can capitalize – not just comply – in this new era of in-app monetization.
In 2021, Apple was ordered to let developers direct users to payment options outside the App Store. Apple responded with a tightly controlled framework: a 27% commission on linked-out purchases, restrictive link language, and warning screens designed to discourage external payments.
On April 30, 2025, the court found that Apple’s approach violated the 2021 injunction. The ruling did three important things:
Developers can now include external payment links or buttons without forcing users through Apple’s in-app purchase flow. That is a major shift in economic power: developers have more room to route purchases to web checkout, own more of the customer journey, and reduce payment friction.
The remaining question is commission. In December 2025, the Ninth Circuit largely upheld the ruling against Apple, but said Apple may pursue a reasonable commission tied to external-link coordination, with the exact framework still to be set by the district court.
Even so, app2web on iOS now comes with fewer restrictions than before, giving developers more control over checkout, margin, and the customer relationship.
While much of the public attention has focused on gaming, with Epic taking the lead, the real impact of this ruling extends much further. All iOS apps — from consumer SaaS tools to digital subscriptions and product marketplaces — now have a clearer path to bypass or limit Apple’s fees and increase profitability.
However, implementing app2web flows isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. Developers must consider tax/VAT compliance, PCI security standards, fraud protection, invoicing, and other backend processes that Apple previously managed.
That’s where a third-party merchant of record (MoR) come in. Through the MoR model, an app developer can offload all the complexities of payments previously handled by Apple to a partner uniquely qualified to manage not just transactions, but a host of other digital commerce functions.
While Apple’s in-app payment system technically acts as MoR (in that Apple resells digital goods and assumes liability for each transaction), it forces exclusivity and limits flexibility. Many developers are now turning to MoR service providers that offer greater control, operational resilience, and support for off-platform payment strategies.
With this policy shift, third-party MoRs can extend the same services to app developers that they’ve historically provided for web-based transactions, by integrating directly into iOS flows as an external payment solution.
MoRs provide a fast, compliant way to take advantage of Apple’s new policies. Developers can embed a "Buy" or "Subscribe" button directly within their app interface, linking users to a mobile-optimized checkout page that lives outside the App Store ecosystem. And since the transaction is handled outside that ecosystem, Apple cannot charge its 15-30% in-app commission (pending the district court framework), and is further barred from levying a 27% external transaction fee.
Apple’s updated policy guidelines confirm that external links and purchases are now permitted, and app developers are already beginning to implement them. A best-in-class MoR solution, meanwhile, can help digital commerce teams deploy app2web flows in a matter of hours, not weeks.
To illustrate how app2web works in practice, imagine an app offering a premium software subscription. Here’s how the post-ruling user journey might look with a Merchant of Record like Cleverbridge:
This same pattern can be applied to any digital commerce transaction: subscription signups, one-time purchases, cross-sells, or add-ons. This is the kind of seamless, scalable, and compliant experience Cleverbridge enables — without rebuilding your app or increasing your team’s workload.
Apple didn’t just lose a court battle — it lost its grip on one of the most lucrative walled gardens in tech. The ruling represents a broader reckoning of how digital platforms monetize access and how much control developers have over their own customers’ user experience.
But capitalizing on that opportunity means acting fast. Many developers are still weighing their options. The ones who move now — with the right infrastructure — will be the ones who scale fastest, retain more margin, and deepen customer relationships.
If you're looking to optimize your iOS sales strategy, let’s talk. Reach out to Cleverbridge today, and unlock the true potential of omni-channel digital commerce.