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

In a major ruling on Wednesday, a judge 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 Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers says that Apple is cannot:

• Impose “any commission or any fee on purchases that consumers make outside an
• App”
• Restrict a 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 a consumers’ choice to leave an app with anything beyond “a neutral message apprising users that they are going to a third-party site”

Developing…