Proton, the Swiss outfit best known for secure email and VPN tools, filed a complaint on 1 July with a US court in Northern California. It accuses Jobs’s Mob of wielding its control over the App Store like a monopoly club, stifling competition, slapping developers with extortionate fees and forcing business models that work against user privacy.
Proton wrote in its bog: “Without this case, Apple could get away with behaviour in the US that is already outlawed in Europe. If this were to happen, American consumers and developers focused on the American marketwould have to pay higher prices for fewer choices nd be left at a disadvantage.”
Rather than filing on its own, Proton is linking arms with a gang of Korean developers who sued in May. They want Apple to be forced to allow alternative app stores on iOS, stop strong-arming developers into using its payment system, and open up full API access.
The complaint echoes earlier rumbles from Epic Games, which started this particular legal war in 2020. Epic lost most of that battle, though a judge did order Apple to let developers inform users about alternative payment options. Apple, true to form, dragged its feet and may now be in contempt of court for not following through.
While regulators in Europe have taken a tougher stance against Apple, forcing real concessions under the Digital Markets Act, the US scene remains more sluggish. Proton wants to drag it into the modern era.
What’s different in Proton’s filing is the privacy angle. It claims that Apple’s App Store stranglehold punishes privacy-first developers by forcing them to share a portion of subscription revenue. In contrast, developers willing to sell user data can subsidise themselves more easily.
It dredged up a 2020 clash when Apple refused to approve an update to Proton’s VPN app after it said it could be used to “unblock censored websites.” Jobs’s Mob backed down eventually, but Proton argues the stunt showed where Apple’s loyalties really lie.
“We don’t question Apple’s right to act on behalf of authoritarians for the sake of profit, but Apple’s monopoly over iOS app distribution means it can enforce this perverse policy on all app developers,” Proton wrote.
The blog post further notes that in 2024 Apple removed 60 VPNs from its Russian App Store, pushing the total there to nearly 100, while doing similar in China, where it’s been equally enthusiastic about helping the regime muzzle internet access.