Cydia claims he was forced to close its doors due to Apple’s illegal control over the distribution of apps on iOS.
The maker of Cydia , the first unofficial app store for jailbroken iOS devices, has filed a lawsuit against Apple. As reported by the Washington Post , the lawsuit claims Apple used anti-competitive practices to establish an illegal monopoly on the distribution of iOS apps.
Cydia was created by Jay Freeman, better known as Saurik , as the first iPhone app store, before Apple launched its own store. Cydia requires devices to be jailbroken to install applications from unofficial sources.
This alternative App Store still exists today, but is much less popular than it used to be. The lawsuit argues that were it not for Apple’s “illegal monopoly” on the distribution of iOS apps, users would have other options outside to easily install iOS apps :
“Were it not for Apple’s anti-competitive acquisition and maintenance of an illegal monopoly on iOS app distribution, users today would actually be able to choose how and where to locate and obtain iOS apps, and developers would be able to use the iOS app distributor of their choice, ”the lawsuit argues.
Apple spokesman Fred Sainz told the Washington Post that the company will look into the lawsuit and denied it is a monopoly.
The Cupertino giant has long pointed out that it competes with Android and that it controls the way the software is distributed to protect users .
“Morally speaking, it’s your phone and you should be able to do whatever you want with it,” continues Freeman. “You should decide which applications to install and you should be able to decide where to download them from.”
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Northern California and Cydia is represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan. Notably, this is the same law firm that represented Samsung in its patent battle with Apple.
Cydia’s lawsuit against Apple is just the latest in a series of anti-competitive charges against the iPhone maker. Epic Games, for example, is currently engaged in a public dispute over App Store policies, claiming its model is anti-competitive . Apple faces an increasing number of antitrust investigations around the world, most of them focused on the App Store.
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