Australia Orders Apple to Allow Rival iPhone App Stores and Restore Fortnite

Apple’s control over iPhone apps in Australia could face its biggest change yet: a ruling orders the company to allow competing app stores and alternative payment options, while also requiring it to restore Fortnite. The orders are due to take effect at noon Australian Eastern time on March 1, 2027, but Apple says it plans to appeal and seek a stay.

Justice Jonathan Beach found that Apple misused its market power to preserve its control over app distribution and in-app payments. The decision says Apple pursued a “deliberate and comprehensive strategy of foreclosure” in iOS app distribution. It also criticizes the company for responding to constraints on its App Store practices with measures that, in the judge’s view, sought to blunt their effect.

What Apple would have to change

The orders reach beyond allowing developers to distribute apps through rival stores. They also target fees and design choices that could make alternative distribution harder to use. Apple would be barred from charging a 27% commission on purchases completed through external websites, imposing disclosure sheets on those transactions, or applying a Core Technology Fee to developers using alternative distribution.

The decision also restricts how Apple can structure developers’ access to those options. The company can’t require developers to sign new bundled contracts just to distribute through another store, show Apple’s In-App Purchase button alongside a different payment method, or appoint Apple as their legal agent for marketing and delivery.

Those details matter because a nominal route around the App Store can still be difficult for developers to use if it comes with extra fees, confusing steps or interface prompts that discourage customers. The decision directly addresses several of those hurdles. Its practical effect will depend on how the orders are implemented and whether Apple’s appeal delays them.

Fortnite’s return is tied to the wider dispute

Apple must also restore Fortnite and other Epic Games apps to the Australian App Store. Apple removed Fortnite in August 2020 after Epic introduced a way to buy the game’s V-bucks currency that bypassed Apple’s payment system and its 30% commission on in-app purchases.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney celebrated the outcome on X, saying the decision freed Fortnite to return in Australia alongside the Epic Games Store. Epic had not provided a comment to TechRadar at the time of its report. Apple, meanwhile, said it disagrees with several findings, including the definition of the market used in the case. The company said it would request a stay and appeal, citing its intellectual property and the safety and security of the App Store experience.

Apple’s response will shape the outcome

Apple has until February 15 to appeal. That means the March 1, 2027 start date is not yet assured. If the orders take effect, the key question will be whether developers can offer competing stores and payment choices without facing new costs or user-facing obstacles that weaken those options.

Apple’s past responses to similar changes give developers reason to watch the details. After a 2024 US ruling let developers add links and buttons that send customers to external payment pages, Apple set a 27% commission on those transactions. It also required a disclosure warning and limited the use of conventional buttons and persuasive calls to action. The outcome did not open iOS to competing app stores or payment systems in the US, and Sweeney described it as “a sad outcome for all developers.”

Changes in Europe offer another comparison. Under the Digital Markets Act, Apple allowed third-party app stores, app installation from websites and alternative in-app payments. The company also introduced a Core Technology Fee for some developers who opted out of the App Store, set up multi-step installation processes and required alternative store developers to secure a $1 million standby letter of credit. Beach described measures of this kind as “deterrence tactics” and addressed fees and other obstacles in the Australian decision.

That history makes implementation the central issue. Apple could try to justify new requirements through security standards or use interface design to steer customers toward its own options; the decision’s explicit limits on fees, disclosures and contract terms may constrain some approaches. The ruling’s effect will be clearer once Apple’s appeal and any request to delay the orders are resolved.

The dispute is part of a longer fight between Apple and Epic over app distribution and payments. Apple’s planned appeal in the US is scheduled for sometime during the October 2026–2027 term, while Epic continues to challenge Apple’s practices in Europe. For Australian developers and iPhone owners, the immediate question is simpler: whether rival stores, alternative payments and Fortnite will be available on the date set by the ruling.