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              Things Learned from the Epic Games v. Apple Lawsuit

   Josh Centers

   Even though it's almost certain to be appealed, we're curious to see
   the outcome of the legal battle between Fortnite maker Epic Games and
   Apple over App Store policies. In the meantime, the trial has revealed
   reams of internal communications that shed some insight into Apple's
   business (for background on the legal dustup, see '[1]App Store Wars:
   Facebook vs. Apple, Publishers vs. Apple, Apple vs. Brave,' 17 December
   2020). The Verge has compiled [2]some of the most interesting bits:
     * Apple keeps iMessage exclusive to its devices to sell more iPhones.
     * Apple went out of its way to get Netflix to keep using in-app
       purchases for subscriptions.
     * Apple makes a huge profit from the App Store but vehemently denies
       knowing that it does.
     * Apple may be slow to support modern Web app technologies on the
       iPhone to maintain control over iOS for security reasons.
     * Apple is deeply concerned about malware on the Mac and seems
       inclined to lock macOS down much as iOS and iPadOS are.
     * Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has been lobbying Tim Cook to open up
       iOS for years.

   One document caught our interest for personal reasons. In January 2016,
   [3]Phil Schiller forwarded Jason Snell's first [4]Six Colors Apple
   report card to other executives, featuring comments from Adam Engst and
   Josh Centers. At least Apple sees some of what we write and say, even
   if there's seldom any indication that the company has acted on any of
   our comments.

     Phil Schiller forwards a Six Colors report card to other Apple
     execs, highlighting App Store/developer comments from
     [5]@jamesthomson, [6]@rgriff, [7]@Ihnatko, [8]@gruber, and Katie
     Floyd

     January 9, 2016 [9]pic.twitter.com/o31lOV64dk

     -- Internal Tech Industry Emails (@TechEmails) [10]May 27, 2021


   [11]Read original article

References

   1. https://tidbits.com/2020/12/17/app-store-wars-facebook-vs-apple-publishers-vs-apple-apple-vs-brave/
   2. https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/27/22454959/epic-apple-trial-recap-video-tim-cook-xbox-playstation-business
   3. https://twitter.com/techemails/status/1397709444801302529
   4. https://sixcolors.com/post/2016/01/apples-final-report-card-for-2015/
   5. https://twitter.com/jamesthomson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   6. https://twitter.com/rgriff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   7. https://twitter.com/Ihnatko?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   8. https://twitter.com/gruber?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   9. https://t.co/o31lOV64dk
  10. https://twitter.com/TechEmails/status/1397709444801302529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
  11. https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/27/22454959/epic-apple-trial-recap-video-tim-cook-xbox-playstation-business

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