Cydia’s lawsuit against Apple over App Store rules moves forward

Apple didn’t dismiss Cydia creator’s lawsuit against iOS app distribution
Photo: Alex Heath
Apple’s bid to dismiss Cydia creator Jay Freeman’s lawsuit was dismissed in federal court in California on Thursday.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple maintains an illegal App Store monopoly on the distribution of apps on iPhone and iPad.
Cydia creator’s amended lawsuit within statute of limitations
Freeman originally filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2020. However, it was dismissed earlier this year by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers because the claims were out of statute of limitations. Following this, the creator of Cydia filed an amended complaint. As Reuters notes, Apple was again trying to have the new lawsuit dismissed, arguing that the alleged activities fell outside the four-year window of federal antitrust law.
In the amended lawsuit, plaintiff SaurikIT LLC argues that Apple committed “millions of overt acts within the statute of limitations.” This includes rolling out App Store changes between 2018 and 2021 that prevented third-party iOS app distributors like Cydia from providing “an app usable on iOS devices”.
The original complaint related to Apple’s actions in 2008 and 2009.
Cydia creator wants Apple to make it easier to distribute iOS apps
In the new lawsuit, Cydia “seeks to open the markets for iOS app distribution and iOS app payment processing to those who wish to compete fairly with Apple, and to recover Apple’s enormous damages to Cydia.” The court ordered the Cupertino company to respond to Cydia’s allegations in the SaurikIT versus Apple trial within 21 days.
Apple has come under intense scrutiny lately due to its monopolistic iOS app distribution practices. It is already the subject of multiple regulatory investigations due to its grip on the App Store. Epic Games sued Apple in 2020 for a similar reason. Both parties want the same thing from the iPhone maker: to make it easier to distribute apps to its devices.