Epic CEO Tim Sweeney Again Says Congress Should Force Apple To Change App Store Rules

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has again told Congress that it must force Apple to allow developers to release apps for iPhones and iPads that don’t have to be downloaded via the App Store.

Epic famously got Fortnite kicked off the App Store because it bypassed the Apple’s 30% cut by implementing its own V-Bucks payment system.

Fortnite hasn’t been available in the App Store ever since, with Epic suing Apple saying that it shouldn’t be allowed to control what apps are available for iPhones and iPads.

Now, Sweeney has been speaking with The Verge about the possibility of a vote to force Apple to open iPhones and iPads up, saying that it wants “unfettered” access.

Epic would settle for, and only for, unfettered ability of developers — it’s not just Epic but all the developers — to compete in the app distribution market. And freedom of developers and consumers to engage in direct distribution where consumers can download apps from the developer’s website, and the unfettered competition in payments for in-app purchases.

But Sweeney also notes that there is no guarantee that Congress will do what he wants. He says that Apple “certainly brought vast resources to bear onto the problem with their army of lobbyists and trade groups that are opining and lobbying and constantly injecting really false statements of the tradeoffs in the platform into the public discourse.”

If Apple is forced to allow developers to offer apps outside of the App Store it would be a huge change for the platform. Apple argues that the App Store is what keeps its users safe from scams, often pointing to Android’s sideloading and fake apps as proof that the App Store is safer.