Cydia Files Appeal in Higher Court in Legal Battle Against Apple

[MacRumors]

Cydia parent company SaurikIT, LLC has filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit after U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers dismissed the company's antitrust lawsuit against Apple last month, according to court documents. SaurikIT had voluntarily asked for the case to be dismissed so the appeal process could begin at the higher court.

SaurikIT sued Apple in late 2020, alleging that the company has an illegal monopoly over iOS app distribution given that the App Store is the only authorized marketplace where users can download apps on the iPhone and iPad. The complaint also alleged that Apple has "consistently tried to snuff out alternative app stores," including Cydia.

Cydia launched in early 2008, months before Apple's own App Store. The app allows users who "jailbreak" their iPhone or iPad to install apps outside of the App Store, as well as themes and tweaks that customize the look and functionality of iOS. For example, long before Apple introduced the Control Center on the iPhone, there was a tweak available on Cydia called SBSettings that offered similar functionality.

The lawsuit alleged that Cydia was the "the App Store before the App Store" and the "first comprehensive solution" for expanding the iPhone's capabilities, although it's worth noting that another unofficial App Store known as Installer launched prior to Cydia.

SaurikIT is owned by Jay Freeman, who is one of several developers and companies who have sued Apple for alleged anticompetitive behavior in relation to the App Store over the past few years, with others including Fortnite creator Epic Games, streaming music service Spotify, FlickType keyboard app creator Kosta Eleftheriou, and more.

Apple has repeatedly denied that the App Store is a monopoly given that it faces competition from the Google Play store on Android devices. Apple has also repeatedly touted the privacy and security benefits of the App Store, arguing that third-party app stores on the iPhone could expose users to fraud, malware, and other risks.

Article Link: Cydia Files Appeal in Higher Court in Legal Battle Against Apple

 

[nikster0029]

Interesting to see where this ends up.

 

[ct2k7]

I thought this wasn’t going to go anywhere, but curious to read the docket files

 

[mrat93]

I’m not sure if this lawsuit has any merit, but neither does Apple when they make up excuses to block sideloading.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

McDonald’s has an illegal monopoly over the McRib! I should be able to get a McRib anywhere at any time of the year and not just when the overlords at McDonald’s decides to bless us with one.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Cydia launched in 2008… and only just now decided to start wasting their money on seeing how many lawsuits they can get dismissed.

 

[diddl14]

Pretty sure if Apple added a popup on iOS asking "Would you like to enable side loading?", 99.999% of users would click no. (as none would understand the question nor care)

 

[omihek]

McDonald’s has an illegal monopoly over the McRib! I should be able to get a McRib anywhere at any time of the year and not just when the overlords at McDonald’s decides to bless us with one.

And why can't I get my Whopper at McDonald's?! There's no Burger King near me, but I want a Whopper. McDonald's is stifling competition by not letting Burger King offer the Whopper at McDonald's.

 

[citysnaps]

I’m not sure if this lawsuit has any merit, but neither does Apple when they make up excuses to block sideloading.

Excuses? Really?

App Store stopped nearly $1.5 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2021

App Store prevented over 1.6 million risky and untrustworthy apps and app updates from defrauding users throughout the year.

www.apple.com

 

[nStyle]

Ok but why wait 12 years to fight a legal battle when you've literally always had to jailbreak to have it?

Also, if Epic Games can't do anything then I'm not sure what they expect they're wasting their money on.

 

[sw1tcher]

Apple has repeatedly denied that the App Store is a monopoly given that it faces competition from the Google Play store on Android devices.

🤣 This is like a telephone monopoly (Bell System) saying they don't have a monopoly since they face stiff competition from tin can and string manufacturers

 

[mrat93]

Excuses? Really?

App Store stopped nearly $1.5 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2021

App Store prevented over 1.6 million risky and untrustworthy apps and app updates from defrauding users throughout the year.

www.apple.com

Lol, yes, really.

Now show me the amount of money lost by customers for buying into scammy subscription apps which Apple leaves on the App Store for months without action. I wonder how much fraud Apple could prevent if they removed web browsers from iOS.

Sure, they have some valid statistics which support their claim, but it doesn’t amount to a sound argument at the end of the day when they need to lie and make excuses to “protect” their users.

 

[ChromeAce]

Oh, Cydia. Go make your own phone. Or better yet, try to set up your own store inside a Wal-Mart.

 

[Remy149]

🤣 This is like a telephone monopoly (Bell System) saying they don't have a monopoly since they face stiff competition from tin can and string manufacturers

Except consumers have multiple over manufacturers to buy phones from.

 

[kc9hzn]

Ok but why wait 12 years to fight a legal battle when you've literally always had to jailbreak to have it?

Also, if Epic Games can't do anything then I'm not sure what they expect they're wasting their money on.

But seriously, I’m really not sure what they’re hoping to accomplish with this. Besides, even if side-loading were a thing, the vast majority of stuff on Cydia would still require jailbreaking (all those system hacks, graphics packs, etc. don’t have documented APIs, they have to inject code into the system and thus need to bypass the sandbox and the system’s other security measures such as memory protection, which requires jailbreaking). And I’d doubt they’d get much of a following among devs putting paid apps in Cydia, Cydia is basically apt based (Debian’s package manager), so adding cracked app repos is as easy as adding a new apt repo, meaning that many Cydia users would just install the cracked apps for free.

 

[sw1tcher]

Excuses? Really?

App Store stopped nearly $1.5 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2021

App Store prevented over 1.6 million risky and untrustworthy apps and app updates from defrauding users throughout the year.

www.apple.com

Does Apple stop a lot of bad apps from getting onto the App Store? Yes. I don't think anyone is really denying that.

But Apple also lets in a lot of fake, scam, and copy-cat apps.

Developer exposes another multimillion dollar scam app on the App Store - 9to5Mac

While Apple claims the App Store has "the apps you love" in a place "you can trust," a developer has shown time and time again that this is not true.

9to5mac.com

Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

Apple claims its App Store is carefully curated so that only the best apps get through. The truth is, the App Store is littered with scams and "fleeceware," which uses fake user ratings to trick customers into paying for something they don't want.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Apple's App Store Comes Under the Spotlight for How It Handles Fake Crypto Apps

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The problem of scam iOS apps has dogged Apple's App Store for some years now, but over last two weeks the developer Kosta Eleftheriou has taken...

www.macrumors.com

 

[Paradoxally]

Now show me the amount of money lost by customers for buying into scammy subscription apps which Apple leaves on the App Store for months without action. I wonder how much fraud Apple could prevent if they removed web browsers from iOS.

And whose fault is that? You can request a refund for purchases if they turn out to be a scam, or if they just don't work to your satisfaction.

I've done that numerous times and not once has Apple denied me a refund.

 

[Rafterman]

McDonald’s has an illegal monopoly over the McRib! I should be able to get a McRib anywhere at any time of the year and not just when the overlords at McDonald’s decides to bless us with one.

A McRib is just ribs. You can get ribs at lots of places. But you can only get iOS apps at the Apple app store.

 

[sw1tcher]

And whose fault is that? You can request a refund for purchases if they turn out to be a scam, or if they just don't work to your satisfaction.

I've done that numerous times and not once has Apple denied me a refund.

That's great that Apple refunded you for the bad apps themselves. But will Apple offer compensation for the damage that using a bad app they let onto their App Store caused you or this guy? I'm going to say no.

Bitcoin Scam App Approved by Apple Robs iPhone User of $600,000+

A scam bitcoin app that was designed to look like a genuine app was accepted by Apple's App Store review team and ended up costing iPhone user...

www.macrumors.com

Apple should when they say they "review all apps, app updates, app bundles, in-app purchases, and in-app events submitted to the App Store to help provide a safe and trusted experience for users"

 

[Kevin2055]

Why nobody sued apple for monopoly of iOS and iPhone?

 

[gk_brown]

A McRib is just ribs. You can get ribs at lots of places. But you can only get iOS apps at the Apple app store.

iOS apps are just apps. You can get apps at lots of places. Android, Windows, the web...

 

[Mousse]

Excuses? Really?

App Store stopped nearly $1.5 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2021

App Store prevented over 1.6 million risky and untrustworthy apps and app updates from defrauding users throughout the year.

www.apple.com

Repeating the same old FUD. Sideloading doesn't mean scam apps/malware. As with all thing, it's possible. Can you install a firewall through the AppStore? What about older, better versions of some apps? What about useful apps, like iDOS 2, that are banned from the AppStore?

People stupid enough to sideload a scam app is stupid enough to download a scam app from the AppStore.

 

[dynamojoe]

I don't want sideloading because it will eventually be required by most developers. You can't say "just don't sideload" because soon enough apps even from top developers will be unavailable in the App Store. Once sideloading becomes an option on iOS, it will become a necessity. You'll end up having the Microsoft Store, the Adobe Store, Facebook Store, Epic (remember them?) Store, Zynga, King, Google, etc., all with their own licensing agreements, billing, return policies, storage use, bandwidth use, etc.

When something goes wrong, developers of sideloaded apps will point fingers at each other, Apple, and the user, and they will never accept responsibility. The user will be left with no recourse.

I trust Apple far more than random developer #329487 when it comes to security and privacy.

 

[Paradoxally]

That's great that Apple refunded you for the bad apps themselves. But will Apple offer compensation for the damage that using a bad app they let onto their App Store caused you or this guy? I'm going to say no.

Bitcoin Scam App Approved by Apple Robs iPhone User of $600,000+

A scam bitcoin app that was designed to look like a genuine app was accepted by Apple's App Store review team and ended up costing iPhone user...

www.macrumors.com

Apple should when they say they "review all apps, app updates, app bundles, in-app purchases, and in-app events submitted to the App Store to help provide a safe and trusted experience for users"

No, because that is a crypto scam. With crypto there are no refunds, if you give out your seed phrase (which is essentially what happened here, he thought it was legit) you're screwed.

The moral of the story is, crypto is useless, not fit for the average user, and will never replace the security of a bank, which would refund the money in case of a phishing attack.

 

[BootsWalking]

McDonald’s has an illegal monopoly over the McRib! I should be able to get a McRib anywhere at any time of the year and not just when the overlords at McDonald’s decides to bless us with one.

Cute but a more accurate analogy is if Ford only allowed you to buy third-party gasoline at Ford-owned gas stations.