Four companies join Epic in whining about Apple’s ‘anti-steering’ rules

Meta, Microsoft, X, and Match have joined Epic Games to protest the way Apple complied with a court ruling requiring it to walk back its anti-steering rules, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The four companies argue that the fees Apple is charging are too high, and that there are too many restrictions on how developers link to their websites. “The Apple Plan comports with neither the letter nor the spirit of this Court’s mandate,” reads the amicus brief.

On March 13 Epic Games  asked a federal judge to hold Apple in contempt of court over its failure to properly comply with a court order to open its App Store to outside payment options, according to Bloomberg (a subscription is required to read the entire article).

Apple has said it would let all third-party apps sold in the US include an outside link to a developer website to process payments for in-app purchases after the U.S. Supreme Court refused in January to wade into a three-year feud between the Fortnite game maker and the iPhone maker

“Apple’s goal is clear: to prevent purchasing alternatives from constraining the supracompetitive fees it collects on purchases of digital goods and services,” Epic said in the filing. “Apple’s so-called compliance is a sham.”

However, Apple claims it’s already complied. Apparently four other companies besides Epic disagree.