Microsoft Joins Criticism of Apple’s New App Store Rules

Microsoft on Monday weighed in on Apple’s controversial App Store rule changes, joining a growing chorus of complaints from around the industry.

“We believe constructive conversations drive change and progress towards open platforms and greater competition,” Microsoft Xbox president Sarah Bond tweeted. “Apple’s new policy is a step in the wrong direction. We hope they listen to feedback on their proposed plan and work towards a more inclusive future for all.”

Bond’s tweet was a reply to a series of tweets by Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek, who has long criticized Apple for its anticompetitive business practices and spearheaded a legal fight that arguably led directly to the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations that Apple is now attempting to subvert. Predictably, he is not amused with Apple either.

“After sitting with our legal team to parse through the fine print of Apple’s DMA announcement (that took a while), which is, at best vague and misleading, I wanted to share my thoughts,” he writes. ” “While Apple has behaved badly for years, what they did yesterday represents a new low, even for them.”

As Ek documents on Twitter, Spotify first complained to the EU about Apple almost five years ago, and he saw the DMA’s so-called gatekeeper rules as the culmination of a battle that might have destroyed his company. Fearing that Apple would never comply with these restrictions, Ek was nonetheless hopeful that it would finally do the right thing.

“The law is the law, right?” he continues. ” Not if you are Apple … Sadly this is a classic move of an old, dominant company that believes the rules don’t apply to them. Instead of adapting and innovating, they’re twisting the situation, making it seem like the regulators are at fault. Or even worse, pretending this has to do with security when it’s clearly a ploy to drive their own profits.”

“Their reaction to the DMA is a masterclass in distortion. They present a ‘simple’ choice: Stick with their current terms or switch to a convoluted new model that looks attractive on the surface but has potentially even higher fees. Reality check: Apple’s alternative is no alternative at all for some of the world’s most popular apps. It just repackages the old terms and the 30% IAP [in-app purchase revenues] they want to protect.”

It goes on, but I assume most readers are familiar with Apple’s nonsense attempt at complying with the DMA regulations: It will simply continue charging exorbitant fees to developers, raising prices for consumers, and reducing choice. Actually, it’s worse than that, Ek says: Under Apple’s new fee structure, it’s actually less expensive to stick with the current structure, the one that Spotify has been fighting for half a decade.

“Apple mocks the spirit of the law and the lawmakers who wrote it,” he finally concludes. “I sincerely hope the EU recognizes this for exactly what it is and stands firm, and doesn’t let their work over the years all be for nothing. The world is watching.”

Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney earlier posted his own lengthy diatribe about Apple’s “devious plan to thwart the DMA,” but as Ek noted, the Apple changes are a tough read. Or, as Sweeney put it, “hot garbage.”

Sounds about right.