#’Fortnite,’ Spotify join nonprofit to change Apple’s App Store rules

A trio of big names has joined a nonprofit group aimed at changing Apple’s App Store practices.

Spotify, Tinder parent Match Group and “Fortnite” developer Epic Games — who over the summer fired the first shot at Apple when it implemented a new payments system in its ultra-popular game which would allow it to avoid the iPhone maker’s traditional 30 percent cut of download revenue — on Thursday announced that they were teaming up with The Coalition for App Fairness.

The nonprofit, based in Washington, DC, and Brussels, said it plans to advocate legal changes that would force Apple to make changes. Currently, Apple takes its cut of download revenue and also lays out rules that developers must follow if they want their apps to show up on the App Store, which is the only way to download apps onto the iPhone and iPad.

Sarah Maxwell, a representative for the group, told Reuters it was founded out of “a lack of hope that things will ever change,” and is angling to expand its list of members.

“While it’s great that we have big names like Epic and Spotify in the group, we’re not speaking just for them,” she said.

The coalition on Thursday also laid out 10 “App Store Principles” it plans to demand, including that “No developer should be required to pay unfair, unreasonable or discriminatory fees or revenue shares.”

Epic is suing Apple over antitrust claims in a US federal court in California, while Spotify has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in the European Union. Maxwell declined to comment on how much funding the Coalition for App Fairness has raised and from whom.

With Post wires.