Russia's FAS, or Federal Antimonopoly Service, has launched a formal investigation into Apple over alleged violation of antitrust laws about the App Store and Apple's restrictions that do not allow developers to link to third-party payment methods outside of the platform.
In August, FAS issued a warning to Apple to "stop violating antimonopoly legislation" by not inhibiting developers from directing users to make in-app purchases from outside the App Store, such as on the web. Apple "did not comply with the warning," according to a press release from the agency, and therefore a case has been opened against Apple on the grounds of violating antitrust laws.
"If Apple is found to be in violation of the Competition Law, it could face a turnover penalty on the amount of market revenue," the agency added. FAS stopped short of specifying how much a fine would be or under what timeframe.
Apple has already announced steps it plans to take early next year to ease App Store restrictions. As part of a deal to close an investigation in Japan, Apple announced in September that it would allow "reader" apps to link to external websites in their apps. These links to external websites can help users set up or manage an account.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps.
More features and changes will follow in future ...
Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by Juli Clover
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass.
The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings.
iOS 26.4 will...
Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions.
iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet.
The update will likely be released by the end of next week.
Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more.
With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by Juli Clover
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year.
The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Monday October 20, 2025 1:02 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Even though we're at the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple is continuing to add new features. In fact, the fourth beta has some of the biggest changes that we'll get when iOS 26.1 releases to the public later this month. We've rounded up what's new below.
Liquid Glass Transparency Toggle
Apple added a toggle for customizing the look of Liquid Glass. In Settings > Display and Brightness,...
Monday October 20, 2025 1:42 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Kohler is expanding its line of bathroom products with Dekoda, an iPhone-connected device that's designed to be attached to a toilet rim (via The Verge). The device's included "sensors" point into the toilet bowl, allowing it to analyze what goes on in the bathroom.
According to Kohler, Dekoda is a health tracker that can monitor gut health and hydration, as well as detect the presence of...
Adding Russia to the list of market Apple should pulled out as suggested by MR comments.
So it is now, EU, UK, AUS, Japan, South Korea, India, Russia
In case anyone wondering why US is missing. Yes, US is the only country with an on going AntiTrust threat or cases that MR wont suggest pulling out of.
This is how govts get big tech to compromise their user's privacy. Pressure them on one front and promise to lay off when they capitulate.
Taken another way any company must comply with the lawful orders of govt or else withdraw from that market like what Google did in China ('https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/12/19/138307/how-google-took-on-china-and-lost/').
Hang on weren’t governments supposed to be providing infrastructure for society but were too incompetent or corrupt to do so and left it to corporate interests? Now they’re throwing in post-hoc regulation as an “oh yeah that” afterthought and pocketing a metric **** ton of cash from fining the corporates.
We can still choose the corporates we use and there is no monopoly I can think of other than government incompetence and greed.
UK here for ref.
It’s also the government’s obligation to enforce competition and keep the economy running stable and healthy now and farer in the future.
This is not only about Russia, Apple is running aground in the whole world. They can’t escape this, and moving out of a country here and there is not an option too. Specially since they are being hunt in their own country.
Apple IS acting anticompetitive, simply as that… same for Google… both in their different ways.
