Apple and Epic are locked in a public and dramatic battle over iPhone rules. The two companies have been fighting over apps on the iPhone for years, but the latest clash between the two was the most dramatic yet, prompting European Union regulators to intervene.

Epic has long been in discussions with Apple about making some of the former's apps available on its App Store to run on iPhones, as is the case with Mac systems, and Apple has always blocked and been firmly against it.

Read also: Apple wins its long-running case against Fortnite developer.

Apple this week made updates to comply with Europe's Digital Markets Act, which aims to limit the power of big tech companies. Those changes include allowing developers to create their own app stores, through which other apps can be distributed.

However, Epic said Wednesday that Apple had removed its developer account on iPhone devices, making it unable to create its own App Store. Epic said Apple violated its agreements by doing so, but Apple has vehemently responded that Epic is not... It is trustworthy and has the right to terminate its account whenever it wants.

Ipek said:

““By terminating Epic’s developer account, Apple is eliminating one of the biggest potential competitors to the Apple App Store,” they said. “They are hurting our ability to be a good competitor in the industry and showing other developers what happens when you try to compete with Apple or criticize its unfair practices.”

Apple has accused Fortnite game developer “Tim Sweeney”, the president of Epic Games, of criticizing Apple and leveling accusations against it through several posts on Apple’s social media platform, which also called Epic a threat to its ecosystem.

Apple also issued its own statement regarding the termination of Epic's developer account, saying that it "chose to exercise its right to terminate Epic accounts in light of Epic's past and ongoing abusive behavior," so we'll have to wait and see what the consequences of this action will be and what it will entail.

Many people here think I'm an Apple hater. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no other group of designers and engineers in the world who can build products as great as Apple when they are given the task to do so. The trouble starts when they are told not to.

-Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 26, 2024

Apple's leadership will face some massive decisions in the coming weeks as the contradictions between its stated principles and the intended and actual consequences of its current policies are considered: the app store monopoly, the payments for digital goods monopoly, the tax, the... pic.twitter.com/mUxV5ypwcd

-Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 26, 2024