Apple could be facing a widespread investigation into the App Store in India, and more specifically, the company's in-app purchasing system, which grants it a 15% to 30% commission for all purchases made, reports Reuters.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI), which oversees cases of possible anti-competitive and antitrust behavior, is reviewing an antitrust challenge case against Apple presented by a non-profit Indian group. The group claims, in their case, that Apple's standard 30% commission for in-app purchases "hurts competition" since it raises costs for both the developer and the customer.
"The existence of the 30% commission means that some app developers will never make it to the market ... This could also result in consumer harm," said the filing, which has been seen by Reuters.
Apple has already faced countless similar cases worldwide, including in the European Union and by developer groups in the United States. In its current stage, the case is not prompting a more exhaustive investigation by the Indian government. Instead, Reuters says that it will be reviewed by the CCI in the coming weeks, possibly leading to a probe.
The group behind the case is ultimately asking for Apple to allow third-party payment methods into its app, allowing developers to bypass its 15% to 30% commission. The new case was reported just hours after Apple announced that, beginning sometime next year, it will allow "reader" apps to link users to external websites for purchases.
The new policy change is the second of just the past few weeks. Last week, Apple conceded to allow developers to email users about payment methods available outside of their apps. However, the new changes stop short of not requiring developers to use the company's proprietary in-app purchasing system and instead allows them to just add a clearly distinguished link to an external website for payment.
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:53 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple regularly refreshes the MacBook Pro models, and a new version that uses M5 series chips is in the works. Apple just finished refreshing most of the Mac lineup with M4 chips, and now it's time for the M5. Rumors suggest that we could see the first M5 MacBook Pro models this fall.
Design
There have been no rumors of a design update for the M5 MacBook Pro models that are coming this...
Wednesday March 26, 2025 12:19 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site.
The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
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In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out.
That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook.
Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing.
Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1.
Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:06 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Update 7:25 pm: Based on comments from our forums, it appears the original Weibo post may have been mistranslated and "8K" actually refers to the high price of the device rather than 8K video recording capabilities. The iPhone 16 Pro currently starts at 7,999 yuan in China.
Our original article follows below.
Apple's forthcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are capable of shooting 8K video, up...
Thursday March 27, 2025 4:21 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Last week, we covered a report claiming that Apple's book-style foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold," as we are provisionally calling it here) will use liquid metal hinges to improve durability and help minimize screen creasing. Today, a Chinese leaker provided more details on the properties of this hinge material that help to clarify why Apple chose it for its first foldable device.
According...
Thursday March 27, 2025 7:45 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone adds an Ambient Music feature to Control Center. Below, we take a closer look at how it works.
iOS 18.4 is currently in beta, so the Ambient Music feature is not widely available yet. The update will likely be released to the general public next week.
To use the feature on iOS 18.4, open Control Center and tap on the plus sign in the top-left...
The iOS 19 mockup images that leaker Jon Prosser shared today are not representative of the actual iOS 19 design, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on social media.
According to Gurman, the images that are "floating around" are based on "very old builds" or "vague descriptions," and are lacking key features. Gurman says that we can "expect more from Apple in June."
Gurman made the same comment ...
As I said, Apple is being sued around the world(US,EU,AU,UK, now India too and more to come). Of course all these lawsuits and antitrust monopoly/duopoly trials will have different outcomes, but overall this will lead to multiple AppStores, multiple Payments Platforms, Open NFC hardware access and the beloved sideloading. Hate the outcomes, but face it, I will ❤️ it.
Please be extremely clear in your reporting because in a very similar article on the matter you quoted Apple as saying that they will allow app developers to provide a in-app link to the developers website for 'account management' purposes only. 'account management' does not mean 'allow link to external website for payment'. No where has Apple said they will allow an app developer to provide an in-app link for external payments.
Please provide the evidence where Apple has expressly said they will allow app developers to provide in-app links to external websites for payments to take place. If you cannot find it please remove any reference to allowing links to external websites for payment because it's going beyond journalist license to write something that is not true.
Please be extremely clear in your reporting because in a very similar article on the matter you quoted Apple as saying that they will allow app developers to provide a in-app link to the developers website for 'account management' purposes only. 'account management' does not mean 'allow link to external website for payment'. No where has Apple said they will allow an app developer to provide an in-app link for external payments.
Please provide the evidence where Apple has expressly said they will allow app developers to provide in-app links to external websites for payments to take place. If you cannot find it please remove any reference to allowing links to external websites for payment because it's going beyond journalist license to write something that is not true.
From apple.com: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/09/japan-fair-trade-commission-closes-app-store-investigation/. Apple will also help developers of reader apps protect users when they link them to an external website to make purchases.
As I said, Apple is being sued around the world(US,EU,AU,UK, now India too and more to come). Of course all these lawsuits and antitrust monopoly/duopoly trials will have different outcomes, but overall this will lead to multiple AppStores, multiple Payments Platforms, Open NFC hardware access and the beloved sideloading. Hate the outcomes, but face it, I will ❤️ it.
Hurrah! Let's take away consumer choice! Now, instead of choosing between the Apple way of doing things (walled garden, etc.) and the Google way, we'll all only have the Google way available. You get what you wanted, and everyone else gets... what you wanted, instead of maybe what they wanted. Great outcome.
The group claims, in their case, that Apple's standard 30% commission for in-app purchases "hurts competition" since it raises costs for both the developer and the customer.
Does no one remember how expensive software used to be before the app store? Prices won't go down with third party payments. I haven't seen any news about apps reducing prices when their fee went to 15%.
