the App Store

A 2025 US ruling found Apple violated an order to open App Store payments, sharpening coverage of the store as a regulated gatekeeper.

Who they are

The App Store is Apple’s software distribution and discovery channel across its device ecosystem, appearing in coverage as the point where Apple sets developer payment, ranking, access, and content-moderation rules. Stories connect it most often to Apple and the iPhone, while treating it as a platform whose decisions affect developers, rival services, and users.

The recent arc

Recent coverage moved from the European Union’s Digital Markets Act implementation to more direct scrutiny of Apple’s control over the store. In early 2024, Apple announced EU support for alternative app stores alongside a €0.50 Core Technology Fee, while the European Commission’s preliminary findings said Apple’s anti-steering rules breached the DMA and questioned its developer fees. Apple’s decision to withhold Apple Intelligence and iPhone Mirroring in the EU, citing DMA interoperability requirements, made the conflict broader than app distribution alone.

In 2025, the emphasis shifted toward enforcement, rankings, advertising, and individual removal decisions. A US judge ruled Apple had violated a 2021 order on third-party payment options and referred the matter for criminal investigation; xAI then alleged that Apple’s OpenAI integration and App Store rankings stifled competition. Later stories covered the removals of ICEBlock and Eyes Up, a refreshed web App Store, and Apple’s plan for more App Store ads in 2026, showing the store being covered simultaneously as a regulatory target, commercial surface, and content-control mechanism.

The tension

The central tension is Apple’s effort to preserve a curated, integrated marketplace against demands for contestability and accountability. Epic’s antitrust suit framed the store as a monopoly, EU regulators challenged anti-steering and interoperability limits, and xAI challenged alleged favoritism toward OpenAI; meanwhile, the ICEBlock and Eyes Up removals put Apple’s discretionary authority over politically sensitive apps under a different kind of pressure.

Why it matters

If this trajectory continues, the App Store’s rules may become less a unilateral product policy and more a continuously contested layer of platform infrastructure, shaped by courts, DMA enforcement, developers, and political scrutiny. The unresolved question is whether Apple can expand advertising and retain control over rankings, payments, and moderation while meeting demands to open the ecosystem without creating new forms of preferential treatment.

Related: Apple · iPhone · Google · Epic · Epic Games files an antitrust suit against Apple, arguing the App Stor · Apple removes ICEBlock, an app for anonymously reporting ICE officer s