Epic Games has gained a seemingly unlikely new supporter in its legal fight against Apple, in the form of Knitrino, a knitting-related startup. The support comes after Knitrino criticized Apple’s handling of App Store policies that made launching its app more difficult than expected.
Knitrino helps knitters to navigate tricky projects and find unique patterns. According to a report in The Seattle Times, upon completing their app, Knitrino’s owners sent the app to Apple and Google, with only the Play Store approving the app with no problems.
Apple rejected the app, saying it could not sell both physical and digital goods through its in-app payment system. Knitrino initially made some technical changes and reapplied, but ended up in a cycle of rejection, receiving “irrelevant portions of Apple’s policies pasted back in response”, then attempting to apply again.
The app is now available on both the App Store and Google Play. But after its experience with Apple, Knitrino was left wishing to make changes to how Apple works with app developers, which led it to sign an amicus brief in support of Epic in November.
Epic’s appeal is currently being heard in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.