In what could be a landmark case for Apple’s App Store, a judge ruled the company can remove any app at any time.
The issue came from free music streaming app Musi, which filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2024 after the company delisted the app from the App Store. The app allows users to pull songs from YouTube and stream songs for free.
Google removed Musi from the Play Store and argued the app violated YouTube’s terms of service. Musi’s developers argued the app was no different than anyone accessing YouTube from a browser and listening to music that way.
Apple eventually followed suit and removed Musi from its App Store, which then led to the lawsuit. According to the developers, Apple acted in bad faith and “knowingly relied on false evidence” for its decision to remove Musi.
Unfortunately for Musi’s developers, U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee did not see things that way.
In his decision, Judge Lee said Apple is allowed to delist apps from the App Store “with or without cause.” This is due to Apple’s Developer Program License Agreement, which stipulates Apple can delist any app, provided developers receive a notice of termination.
Musi’s developers did not dispute that Apple provided them notice. As such, Judge Lee not only tossed the lawsuit, but also found the developers’ lawyers to have made the “bad faith” allegation without any evidence.
The lawyers were ordered to pay Apple’s legal fees and costs related to the sanctions motion.
This could end up being a monumental case for Apple. Not only does its agreement language stipulate the company can delist apps at any time for whatever reason, but a judge gave the agreement legal reinforcement.
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