Court rejects Apple's request to delay App Store changes

Apple's request for a stay of litigation in Epic v. Apple has been denied. The judge in the case, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, ruled Tuesday that Apple must comply with a previous order by the December deadline. According to the court order, Apple must allow developers to add buttons, external links or other calls to action to direct users to third-party payment platforms.

During the virtual court hearing, Apple argued that making changes to the App Store by the December 9 deadline would be "extremely difficult." Apple's attorney argued that it would "take months to sort through the engineering, economic, business and other issues" associated with such changes.

Meanwhile, Epic attorney Gary Bornstein said Apple's request for a delay is nothing more than a tactic. "Apple doesn't do anything unless it's forced to do it," Bornstein said during the hearing.

Apple plans to appeal the court's new ruling. In a statement, Apple said: "Apple believes that no additional business changes should go into effect until all appeals in this case have been resolved. We intend to ask the Ninth Circuit for a stay based on these circumstances."

Source: theverge