Apple faces £2 billion UK lawsuit from app developers

App developers initiated a major legal action against Apple in the United Kingdom, claiming the technology giant abused its monopoly power by enforcing severe app tracking restrictions on third parties while maintaining advantages for its own services. The lawsuit, which seeks £2 billion (US$2.7 billion), was filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London on Friday. Lawyers representing the developers argue that Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework imposes stricter requirements on third-party app providers than those applied to Apple itself, creating a competitive disparity. Ann Pope, former head of the UK's competition authority and leader of the suit, stated that Apple's policies caused significant harm to businesses relying on Apple as an access intermediary. The dispute centers on the App Tracking Transparency feature launched in 2021, which allows users to control permission for tracking activity across apps and websites outside Apple's ecosystem. Apple maintains that the feature was introduced to let consumers decide whether to grant apps permission to monitor their interactions with other companies' applications and sites.