Apple must open the iPhone to rival app stores in Australia

Australia

A federal judge ordered Apple to let Australian iPhone users install apps from rival stores and websites from Mar 1, 2027.

What Apple must allow

• Rival app stores
• Apps installed from websites
• Other payment methods
• Links to outside payments

Apple must also allow other payment methods and links to them in apps, and pay 85 per cent of Epic Games' legal costs from the trial.

Fortnite is back on Apple's Australian app store after a six-year absence. Apple says it will seek a stay and appeal the ruling.