Apps in 'jail-broken' i-Phone; Apple gets no reprieve in anti-trust case
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San Francisco: A US judge has rejected a plea by tech giant Apple to dismiss an amended antitrust lawsuit filed by the creator of Cydia, an app store for jail-broken iPhones.
Rejecting Apple's motion to dismiss the case, California District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez has given Apple 21 days to respond to the complaint, news agencies have reported.
Cydia developer Jay Freeman first filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2020, alleging that Apple "has wrongfully acquired and maintained monopoly power" in iOS app distribution and payments.
Apple "deprived" third-party app stores of "the ability to compete with the App Store." Freeman shut down the Cydia store in 2018.
Jail-broken devices are those which are locked against use in networks other than in a tie-up with Apple or where installing software is restricted by the manufacturer. The process of jail-breaking allows full access to the root of the operating system and access to all the features. Apple's iPhones are most subject to jail-breaking as it is the most 'locked down' device in the market - and subject to a majority of litigation on monopoly-related issues.
The fresh complaint argues that from 2018 to 2021, Apple implemented "more aggressive" changes in iOS that allegedly prevented Cydia and other alternative app stores from providing "useable" apps for iPhones.
Meanwhile, Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite game, has challenged Apple for its stand that third-party app stores would compromise the iPhone's security.
In a fresh court filing, Epic said if Apple can allow sideloading on Mac devices and still call those computers secure, then surely it could do the same for iPhone.
Last year, a US judge ruled in the Epic Games v. Apple district court case that Apple did not have a monopoly in the relevant market.
However, the court in California decided that Apple could not prohibit developers from adding links for alternative payment systems outside of App Store-based systems.
Apple has said that permitting sideloading could risk users' "most sensitive and private information".
(With inputs from IANS)