Daniel and Manton talk about Apple reinstating Epic’s developer account for the EU, and then banning it again. They compare it with Apple’s recent public reaction to Spotify and the EU’s $2B fine against the company. They wonder if Apple has become fixated on this as a fight of passion, to their detriment. Finally, a wish for Apple to put somebody new in charge of the App Store to help to fulfill its mission.
Download Audio (MP3, 35 minutes)
Links:
- Catastrophic Response – The Verge’s 2020 report on Apple’s imminent termination of Epic’s developer account.
- Fortnite Will Return – TechCrunch reports on Apple’s previous approval of an Epic subsidiary in Europe.
- Terminated Again – TechCrunch reports on the latest termination of Epic’s European account.
- Apple Statement – Apple responds to the EU’s decision to fine it nearly $2B.
- Dithering – Paid podcast featuring Ben Thompson and John Gruber.
- There’s an App for That – Manton’s response to a recent post on Ben Thompson’s Stratechery newsletter.
- Epic’s Shared Emails – Epic writes about the ongoing saga and includes copies of emails between them and Apple.
- The Long Arm of the EU – Tweet from EU commission “Under the DMA, there is no room for threats…”
- Massive Decisions – Tweets from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney alleging that Apple has deviated from its own values.
- A Car it Never Built – Bloomberg article about Apple’s canceled car project, featuring details about some of the prototype designs.
- Apple Will Reinstate Developer Account – 9to5mac reports on the reinstatement by Apple of Epic’s European developer account.
