Microsoft Just Took a Direct Shot at Apple’s Controversial App Store Policy
- Microsoft unveiled the next version of its major operating system, Windows 11, on Thursday morning.
- Part of that event was a not-so-thinly veiled shot at Apple.
- Going forward, app and game makers with their own payment systems can skip using Microsoft’s system.
Microsoft just took a shot at Apple with a feature in its next major operating system, Windows 11.
Going forward, the Microsoft Store will allow software makers to use their own payment systems — something Apple refuses to allow on its App Store. Rather than paying Microsoft a cut of each transaction, software makers can charge users directly with their own systems.
“If you do bring your own commerce engine, you keep 100% of your revenue,” Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay said during a Microsoft livestream featuring Windows 11. “We keep zero.”
It’s a major point of contention between Apple and a variety of software makers, and it’s at the heart of ongoing litigation between “Fortnite” maker
Epic Games
and Apple.
Epic Games filed suit against Apple last summer after its hit game was pulled from Apple’s App Store.
Apple says it pulled the game because Epic violated the terms of its developer agreement when Epic implemented a payment system in the game that enabled players to circumvent Apple’s App Store. Epic says the App Store is a monopoly, and argues that iPhones and iPads are no different from computers.
Microsoft previously issued a letter to the court on behalf of Epic Games, and a Microsoft employee appeared as an expert witness during the trial. Arguments have ended for both sides in the ongoing case, and it’s unknown when the judge will issue a ruling.
Windows 11 is a free upgrade for Windows users, and is scheduled to launch “this holiday,” according to Microsoft.
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