A fight with WordPress, the website building service, broke out last week after Apple plucked the developer from the App Store, preventing WordPress from issuing updates, such as bug fixes, to its iOS app.
The dispute became public after Matt Mullenweg, a founding developer of WordPress, the open source project and the nonprofit foundation, tweeted on Friday that Apple had “locked” his team out of the app market. Mullenweg is also the CEO of Automattic, a company that offers commercial versions of WordPress software outside of the flagship application.
Notices why @WordPressiOS updates have not been present … App Store blocked us. In order to send updates and bug fixes again, we had to commit to supporting in-app purchases for .com plans. I know why this is problematic, open for the suggestions. Allow IAP to others? New name?
The biggest explosion so far prompted Epic Games, maker of the hit video game Fortnite, to sue Apple for allegedly monopolistic and anti-competitive behavior. At the first court hearing in the case on Monday, the presiding judge said the decision was not a “nail” for either side.
While Epic lives up to its name, putting up an epic fight, WordPress came to a more amicable conclusion.
Paying the piper
Whenever people buy digital products, like Netflix subscriptions or video game items, through the App Store, Apple requires a cut. Typically, Apple takes 30% of any digital transaction. (In some cases, like recurring subscriptions, Apple’s share is 15%.)
Developers despise the toll because it consumes their income. However, if a developer offers people alternative payment options outside of the App Store, or even indicates alternative people, even indirectly, they could find themselves in breach of Apple’s “terms of service.”
The phantom tollbooth
CEO Tim Cook has been doubling down on Apple’s called as service business, which includes the App Store for the make up for slow growth in Apple iPhone sales. What started as a small initiative continues to be an important factor in the future prospects of the company; The new services unit raised more than $ 13 billion during the company’s most recent quarter ending June 27, up from $ 5 billion during the same period in 2015.
That shifting strategic emphasis led Apple to crack down on any company that tried to evade its toll. When Epic started offering alternative Fortnite payment methods that avoided Apple fees, for example, Apple blocked the app. The two are now embroiled in a legal confrontation.
After multiple skirmishes between Apple and developers, regulators have started to pay more attention. Lawmakers questioned whether Apple is abusing its status as the gatekeeper of the App Store and harming consumers in a recent congressional hearing.
In his testimony, Cook argued that Apple’s fees “are comparable to or lower than the fees charged by most of our competitors.” Many app developers, including music streaming service Spotify, Microsoft, various news publishers, and, of course, Epic Games, have rejected that defense, arguing that Apple’s approach to the App Store unfairly hurts businesses.
Appeasement
On Saturday, Mullenweg tweeted that he was “very grateful that the folks at Apple were revisiting” the WordPress application. He added that the WordPress team would work to close “any gaps in the web view that arise,” ridding the app of any clue to alternative payment options and thereby ensuring compliance with Apple’s terms of service. (Mullenweg did not immediately respond to Fortune’s requests for comment.) Apple said in a statement that it considered the issue to be “resolved” after WordPress removed the app’s alternative payment options, turning it into another free app with no in-app purchases.
