In recent days, Apple has been under fire from critics in the United States. Attacks that come from its own camp: the world of tech. Several major players in the sector, such as Facebook and Spotify, denounce certain practices of the Apple brand, described as "abuse of a dominant position".

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The "Battle of Silicon Valley" ... This is not the title of the next Hollywood blockbuster but the game of lying poker being played in the United States at the moment. In recent days, Apple has seen several major digital players ganging up against it. Facebook, Spotify and Tinder, among others, accuse the American giant of abusing its dominant position. It is the functioning of the App Store, the application store for smartphones and tablets from Apple, which is in their sights. The reason: on each payment made within an application downloaded from the App Store, Apple charges a commission of 30%. And this system annoys ...

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Epic Games goes on a crusade against Apple

The first to be mounted at the front is Epic Games. The publisher of the Fortnite video game wanted to bypass Apple's system by offering players commission-free transactions to acquire bonuses. Result: Apple banned the application from the Store for violations of the rules, Epic Games filed a complaint and the rest will be played out in court ... But the publisher of Fortnite, with its 250 million players, has set foot in the door. And in its wake, other big names in the tech world have stepped into the breach to denounce Apple's practices that they qualify as "abuse of a dominant position".

"We applaud Epic Games' decision to stand up to Apple and shed light on its abuses of a dominant position. Apple's unfair practices have put competition at a disadvantage and deprived consumers for too long," said Spotify, l one of the leaders in streaming music. "Apple uses its dominance and unfair policies to hurt consumers, developers and entrepreneurs," the dating app Tinder commented. Both companies are concerned: subscriptions to Spotify and Tinder via the iPhone application are charged at 30%.

Facebook takes sides against Apple

Even Facebook takes advantage of this unprecedented sequence to denounce the commission system, accusing Apple of deducting it even from payments made to help SMEs, an option recently implemented by the social network in response to the health crisis. Entrepreneurs can offer paid services on Facebook to deal with the crisis, and Mark Zuckerberg's company has pledged to make no profit for a year. But Apple maintained its commission. 

Facebook would like to add a mention of this commission to warn users. "When people pay $ 20 for an online event, they think it all goes to a local business while 30% goes to a business that weighs $ 2,000 billion, that's relevant information people need to have." , said Fiji Simo, the manager of the Facebook application, interviewed by The Verge .

Apple will "no exception"

This increase in support for Epic Games does not make Apple blink. Right in her boots, the apple brand hammers that she is in her right. “The App Store was designed to be a safe and reliable place for users as well as a great business opportunity for all developers. Epic has been one of the most popular developers on the App Store, building a multi-billion dollar business affecting millions of iOS customers around the world, ”Apple said in a statement. "We won't make an exception for Epic because we don't think it's fair to put their business interests ahead of our rules that protect our customers."