During the court proceedings, Phil Schiller, former vice president of marketing at Apple, spoke about the launch of the App Store. He recalled that the first iPhone was released in 2007 and initially only Apple‘s own applications worked on it (the rest could be opened through the Safari browser). However, due to numerous attempts by developers to hack a smartphone, the company decided to tighten control and launch an official store in 2008.

In 2019, $400 billion worth of physical goods were sold through the App Store. By them, Apple means buying things on Amazon, food delivery, taxi, etc. Despite the impressive turnover of funds, the company claims that it does not charge a commission on such transactions. According to her, unlike digital purchases or subscriptions, here she cannot guarantee either the quality or whether the consumer will receive his order at all.

The Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) costs Apple an average of $50 million. This was stated during the trial by Phil Schiller. He also noted that the costs of its implementation are not taken into account in the category of operating expenses of the App Store.

Apple continues to make arguments why services such as xCloud should not appear in the App Store. Now she stressed that gaming streaming services are fickle, which cannot be said about video platforms like Netflix. The games in them are like separate applications, interactive and constantly changing. Despite the fact that Netflix also has interactive content. For example, the movie “Black Mirror: Bandashmyg”.

Lorin Hitt from the Wharton School of Business tried to prove that the browser can circumvent the ban on billing in the App Store. He stated that for at least eight games from the list of the top 25 projects at the box office in the store, you can buy content outside of iOS.

Apple prohibits developers from not only implementing their own payment systems, but also generally telling users about discounts outside of iOS. For example, they cannot be sent emails with an offer to buy a subscription or game currency on the game’s website cheaper than in the App Store. Also, you cannot specify similar information in the application itself.

Two weeks ago, Apple released the iOS 14.5 update, which required applications to ask users for permission to collect personal data. This feature has already been appreciated by many owners of iOS devices. As Flurry analysts found out, today only 15% of users from all over the world were not against the collection of their personal information.

Tristan Kosmynka, one of the heads of the App Store, said that in 2017-2018, developers of 5 million applications applied for publication in the store. Approximately 40% of them were unable to pass moderation due to a violation of Apple‘s privacy policy. For example, in 2019, out of 4.8 million applications, slightly more than 1.7 million (36%) were refused publication.

Less than a month ago, an application appeared in the Epic Games Store Itch.io — stora for indie games without DRM. As Apple noted, the standards of this site are very different from the standards of the Epic Games Store. In particular in Itch.io there is a Sisterly Lust game that includes “a list of fetishes with words that should not be uttered in federal court.” Although Epic Games itself does not encourage such content.

Apple‘s lawyers asked the court to invalidate the testimony of Lori Wright, vice president of Xbox. She appeared in court as a witness on the part of Epic Games and, among other things, said that Microsoft does not receive any profit from the sale of consoles.

One of the fundamental points that Epic Games defends is the permission to use third—party payment systems in the App Store. According to the company, this will “put an end to Apple‘s monopoly”, and users will receive more convenient and cheaper payment methods inside applications. That’s just such an innovation will affect all iOS applications, not just games like Fortnite.

Last year, Microsoft fought for the appearance on iOS of the service for “playing in the cloud” xCloud. From the letters published during the trial between Epic Games and Apple, it became known that a similar Shadow Cloud Computing service suffered because of this struggle.

This proposal was made by Phil Schiller, the head of Apple‘s marketing department, who was also responsible for the App Store. In his letter to Steve Jobs and Eddy Cue he stressed that someday “the company will face a sufficient number of problems that will force it to adjust the 70/30 model.” Therefore, as soon as the App Store revenue exceeds $1 billion, it is desirable for Apple to reduce the commission itself.

During the hearing on the case, the head of Epic Games admitted that he would be satisfied if Apple decided to soften the conditions in the App Store only for his company. Apparently, it was about reducing the commission by 30%.

iOS users spent the least in the game. The main part of the revenue was generated by console players. The PlayStation 4 gamers were the most generous.

Apple has problems in Germany. Numerous German advertisers are dissatisfied with iOS 14.5 released on Monday and the new privacy policy that was launched on the platform after that. Now the corporation will be checked by the local Federal Antimonopoly Agency.

The post-IDFA era has arrived. The iOS 14.5 update was released yesterday, which “blocks the oxygen” to the advertising identifier. From now on, iOS applications should ask the user at the first launch whether he agrees to share personal data.

Apple has announced the release date of iOS 14.5 — April 26, 2021. Recall that it is with this update that a new privacy policy will come into force on the platform, which will allow users to block the IDFA advertising identifier.