Win or lose, we’ve already lost
Apple will use its time in court to try to prove these claims, but the action will probably stretch across years — unless Commissioners change their approach or the political intention in the EU and/or US shifts.
While we wait, European customers will be able to enjoy the full benefits of the new arrangements, in the form of sketchy in-app pester advertising to use unregulated third-party payment services, a loyalty war as some big apps attempt to use their own market reach to create their very own app store fiefdoms, slow or no appearance of some operating system features and a less-effective search system for applications.
It won’t all be good news, as I expect some millionaires with the cash to build and maintain App Stores of their own might carve out a couple of bucks from within this inevitable chaos. If you play games, for example, you’ll gain the pleasure of giving money for existentially inconsequential in-game digital boosts direct to the publisher, rather than via the platform. (This does also mean you’ll only have the games publisher to help you when things go wrong, including when your kids purchase in-game currency when using the app. Good luck with that.)
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