Technology 2 min read

Facebook Joins War Against Apple's App Store Commission

Gerd Altmann / Pixabay.com

Gerd Altmann / Pixabay.com

Apple‘s 30 percent app store commission attracted a lot of attention in the previous week.

Facebook recently launched a paid event service — Live Events — to create, promote, and host paid events. The feature is a response to the pandemic, which forced the cancellation of in-person gatherings.

To support struggling businesses, Facebook said it wouldn’t collect any fees on those online events for at least a year. In other words, companies can keep 100 percent of the payment made on the web and Android.

But that won’t be the case on iOS, according to Facebook.

Facebook vice president, Fidji Simo explained the reason in a blog post:

“We asked Apple to reduce its 30 percent App Store tax or allow us to offer Facebook Pay so we could absorb all costs for businesses struggling during COVID-19. Unfortunately, they dismissed both our requests and SMBs will only be paid 70 percent of their hard-earned revenue.”

The post came just about 24 hours after Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store.

Epic Games Challenges Apple’s App Store Commission

Last week, Epic released the latest version of Fortnite, which lets player transactions bypass Apple’s App Store. With that, the iPhone makers will be unable to claim its typical app store commission.

Shortly after the update, Apple kicked Fortnite out of its app store, and Epic filed an antitrust complaint.

The game-maker requested that a federal judge should order Apple to stop its “anti-competitive conduct.” It also asked the court to invalidate the rule requiring app developers to pay 30 percent of transactions to Apple.

Epic emphasized that it wasn’t seeking favorable treatment. Instead, the game company was simply asking the court to order Apple to change its commission structure for all developers.

On the other hand, Apple claims that it pulled Fortnite from the App Store for violating its guidelines.

The Cupertino-based company wrote:

“Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users.”

Be that as it may, other companies are now challenging Apple’s right to a large cut of their sales. These include the music service Spotify — and, more recently, Facebook.

Read More: Study: Google Products Dominate the Search Engine’s First Page

First AI Web Content Optimization Platform Just for Writers

Found this article interesting?

Let Sumbo Bello know how much you appreciate this article by clicking the heart icon and by sharing this article on social media.


Profile Image

Sumbo Bello

Sumbo Bello is a creative writer who enjoys creating data-driven content for news sites. In his spare time, he plays basketball and listens to Coldplay.

Comment (1)
Least Recent least recent
You
  1. Profile Image
    Moises Noel November 30 at 5:27 pm GMT

    Beware of scam Trading companies and exchange or any kind of scam
    I initially invested a total of $95,000 over a period of 18 weeks. My bonus/profit was $170,000, every attempt to make withdrawal failed and I was instructed to make another deposit of $25,000 before I can make withdrawals which I did. Up till now I’m still unable to make withdrawals and all attempt to contact broker has failed. This is very pathetic and I advise everyone to desist from trading online generally. I did a due diligence test before investing with them but guess what I ended up getting burned. This is to create awareness, not everybody can be as lucky as I was. I’m saying this because I was able to recover my funds. Thanks to (WIZESAFETYRECOVERY @ GMAIL COM) for coming to my rescue. Thought someone might find this information useful

share Scroll to top

Link Copied Successfully

Sign in

Sign in to access your personalized homepage, follow authors and topics you love, and clap for stories that matter to you.

Sign in with Google Sign in with Facebook

By using our site you agree to our privacy policy.