A number of iOS developers have been questioned by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). It is part of the department’s antitrust investigation into Apple.
Multiple Developers Questioned by DOJ
Amongst those questioned was Suren Ramasubbu, the CEO of developer Mobicip. He revealed to Reuters that the investigation questioned him about his firm’s relationship with Apple in November. Apple temporarily removed Mobicip’s parental control app from the App Store but reinstated it in October 2019. However, Mr. Ramasubbu believes his firm had been damaged by that point. Apple previously claimed Mobicip’s app did not meet App Store requirements.
Furthermore, other developers of parental control apps claimed their relationship with Apple deteriorated after Apple introduced its own parental control features in iOS. The DOJ is understood to have questioned multiple developers during the course of its investigation.
Apple had provided no public comment on the news investigators spoke to developers at the time of this writing. It only reiterated its statements about the high standards it expects in the App Store.