Apple’s Antitrust Settlement Talks Spur Worries Among Developers

As the U.S. Department of Justice negotiates a settlement of its antitrust lawsuit against Apple, app developers are fretting that any deal won’t go far enough in curbing what they see as Apple’s anticompetitive behavior, according to people familiar with the talks.

Several developers, including PayPal and Epic Games, have discussed their concerns with the Justice Department about a possible settlement of the Apple case, the people said. In communication with developers, Justice Department officials have signaled their preference to settle the lawsuit rather than fight it, the people said.

The department appears to be focusing on a deal addressing interoperability issues developers face with the iPhone. In its 2024 lawsuit, the Justice Department alleged that Apple maintained an illegal monopoly over the smartphone market by restricting how outside apps or devices worked on the iPhone. For instance, Apple’s smartwatch pairs with the iPhone more easily than competing smartwatches do. And while the company has begun opening the tap-to-pay feature, which used to work only with Apple Pay, to other payment apps, the feature still doesn’t work as smoothly with those rival apps.

As part of its talks with developers, the Justice Department has asked them for a list of ways to improve the iPhone’s ability to operate with other devices, the people said.

Many developers and antitrust lawyers are concerned that the Justice Department will offer Apple a settlement that imposes relatively light requirements on how its devices interact with other companies’ devices.

Spokespeople for PayPal and Epic declined to comment on discussions with the agency. A Justice Department spokesperson also declined to comment, other than to say the department would “continue to prioritize affordability for all Americans across our economy.” Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Bloomberg reported on the early stages of the settlement talks in July.

Dealmaking Preference

After President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, he installed antitrust lawyer Gail Slater as head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division. Slater favored more aggressive antitrust enforcement and clashed with the Trump administration’s dealmaking inclinations, lawyers said.

She stepped down in February, succeeded at least temporarily in June by Stanley Woodward, the third-ranking official at the agency and once a favored lawyer for Trump’s inner circle. The White House has nominated Adam Candeub to lead the division permanently. Candeub is awaiting Senate confirmation.

In the meantime, Woodward has pushed for settlements because he believes they deliver benefits to consumers faster and cost the government less than taking a case to trial, which can take many years, according to antitrust lawyers.

Some people involved in the talks have been surprised the negotiations have taken this long and had expected a resolution much sooner. But Candeub’s pending confirmation could be delaying a deal.

This isn’t the first time Apple has held settlement talks related to its current conflict with the U.S. government. The company tried to settle with the Justice Department before the government sued in 2024, during the Biden administration. To avert a lawsuit, Apple promised to improve the interoperability of its products with other devices, one person familiar with the discussions said.

Since the 2024 lawsuit, Apple has changed its products and policies in ways that address some of the complaints about its lack of interoperability. For instance, Apple has made it easier for Android phone users to message iPhone owners by integrating a messaging technology called Rich Communication Services, or RCS, into the Messages app.

Still, Apple is likely to resist making substantial changes that open up its ecosystem the way many developers have demanded. As a result, there’s a chance the Justice Department and Apple won’t reach a settlement.

The long-running Epic Games lawsuit demonstrated Apple’s intransigence on making major changes. Last year, for example, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found that Apple willfully violated a 2021 injunction from the antitrust case and referred the matter to federal prosecutors for a possible criminal contempt investigation. Apple is appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court.

“I have a hard time thinking that Apple would ever agree to terms of what a developer would consider a good settlement,” said Christine Bannan, senior public policy manager at Proton, a Swiss maker of privacy-focused online services that sued Apple last year over alleged anticompetitive App Store policies.

Bannan said Proton had discussed the antitrust lawsuit with Justice Department officials earlier in the process and that the case seemed to be proceeding. But Proton hasn’t taken part in the latest settlement discussions because it is waiting for Candeub’s confirmation, she said.

“But at this stage, I’m concerned that we’ll be waiting for too long, and the wheels are moving, and Apple’s pushing for settlement,” Bannan said.