The Coalition for App Fairness
In February 2020, Blix issued a call for unity to every developer Apple had treated unfairly. Seven months later, on September 24, 2020, Blix was one of 13 founding members of the Coalition for App Fairness, alongside Epic Games, Spotify, Tile, Basecamp, Match Group, Deezer and others. The coalition brought together companies that had clashed with Apple over App Store rules, to push for fair treatment of developers on app stores.
Standing with Epic
On August 13, 2020, Epic Games added its own payment option to Fortnite, bypassing Apple’s 30% commission. Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store the same day, and Epic sued.
Blix knew that story from the inside. A year earlier, Apple had removed BlueMail from the Mac App Store, and Blix had spent eight months fighting to get it back.
Fortnite stays out
In September 2021, a US court ruled on Epic’s case. It sided with Apple on most claims, but ordered Apple to let developers point users to payment options outside their apps. Apple then refused to bring Fortnite back to the App Store while the case went through appeals.
Blix called it what it was:
Why partners matter
Epic could afford to fight Apple in court for years. Most developers can’t. That is why Blix has stood with Epic and the other members of the Coalition for App Fairness: the rules being tested in these cases apply to every developer who has to go through an app store to reach their users.