Apple hit with another antitrust case as Proton joins the pile-on
The privacy-first firm says Apple’s App Store rules are unfair, a threat to privacy, choice, and free speech.
Apple’s App Store rules have always rubbed developers the wrong way. But now, Proton, the privacy-first Swiss firm behind Proton Mail, VPN, and Drive, is done playing nice.
They’ve joined a U.S. class-action lawsuit, teaming up with a group of Korean developers to accuse Apple of running a monopoly over iOS app distribution and payments. Their ask is for the tech giant to tear down its walled garden, or at least let other people grow things inside it.
Proton’s beef is familiar, but no less valid. Apple takes a 15–30% cut on subscriptions, blocks developers from mentioning cheaper web deals, and gives its own apps an unfair head start. Proton Drive, for instance, can’t run in the background like iCloud. Its Calendar app can’t even be set as default.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
It’s a new front in a battle Epic Games kicked off in 2020—one that Apple mostly won, though a U.S. judge did order it to let developers link to alternative payments. Proton argues Apple hasn’t really followed through—and that privacy-first apps are getting squeezed the hardest.
Because Proton doesn’t sell user data, it relies on subscriptions. And Apple’s cut makes that model even tougher to sustain. Meanwhile, in countries like Russia and China, Apple has pulled privacy tools (including Proton’s VPN) under pressure from governments, proving, Proton says, that Apple’s control can double as a censorship tool.
The lawsuit doesn’t seek damages for profit; Proton says any payout would go to pro-democracy causes. What they want is policy change: open distribution, fairer rules, and real user choice.
Apple hasn’t responded. But with global pressure mounting, it’s fair to ask: how much longer can one company gatekeep the entire iPhone experience?
