As a result of Apple and Epic’s lawsuit, the former company is now restricted from stopping app developers from directing their users to alternate payment methods in their apps. As a result, a solutions provider business, Paddle, has announced a replacement service for Apple’s in-app purchase system to go live in December.
“Paddle In-App Purchase is a true like-for-like, drop-in replacement for Apple’s IAP, allowing developers to maintain a seamless user experience, without having to pay Apple 30% of every sale,” Paddle shared in a press release, adding: “Paddle has a highly competitive fee structure, charging just 10% for transactions under $10, and just 5% on transactions over $10. This means that developers earn more from every purchase. ”
Paddle truly offers an interesting package deal to developers, giving them more of a cut than Apple does and offering discrete per-region pricing and flexible subscription options like pausing a subscription. The bigger issue is that Apple is unlikely to interpret the ruling in the manner that Paddle understands it to be.
Speaking to iMore, Florian Mueller of Foss Patents explained, “The injunction is merely meant to enable app developers to tell customers that, for example, they could make the same in-app purchase at a lower cost if they play the same game on a Samsung phone and download the app there via the Galaxy Store.”
Paddle could try and launch its payment system as advertised, but the plain reading of the ruling is that Apple can’t stop developers from pointing to discounts on their websites or elsewhere, rather than them opening up the App Store’s payments system in its entirety such that developers could integrate alternate payment systems into their own apps. There is some ambiguity there, however, and a clash with Apple could be inevitable.
“Our understanding, and that of our legal advisors, is that Paddle In-App Purchase is permissible within the Apple vs. Epic legal ruling,” said Paddle, in a statement to TechCrunch. “We would welcome Apple sharing its own interpretation on this to bring further clarity to an issue that will have a significant impact on iOS developers and the wider market.”
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.
Apple's first foldable phone is now on shelves, in short supply, but with an unreal amount of buzz around it. After all, it's the first foldable iPhone, and there's plenty that this phone gets right. But there's also a lot that is either broken or underwhelming. What's peculiar is the dialogue around this phone, and how it has completely overshadowed every other attempt at making a phone with a similar form factor.
I've spent some time with the iPhone Duo, and I've used the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for almost three months now. In my opinion, Samsung deserves more credit. When the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived earlier this year, it was celebrated in some circles and ridiculed in others for supposedly copying what Apple would eventually deliver with the iPhone Duo. The dialogue was pretty odd, for multiple reasons. Samsung has been making foldable phones for years, so claiming that it copied a product Apple hadn't even launched was simply absurd.
For years, Samsung’s Galaxy A phones have been some of the easiest recommendations for anyone who wants to go the Android route without paying flagship prices. But that part of the lineup could soon become harder to find at a good price.
According to South Korea’s Electronic Times, Samsung is cutting Galaxy A production by about 20% in the fourth quarter compared to its original plans. Component orders have reportedly dropped by a similar amount, which could mean roughly 10 million fewer phones over the year. Samsung is also said to be considering another production cut of more than 10% next year.