The problem, according to the plaintiffs, is that Apple has removed their app from the App Store and, to make things worse, has introduced its own rival, called SharePlay.
You might’ve heard of the app I’ll go and introduce right now – you might’ve even used it. It’s Rave, the video-sharing platform.
Lots of $$$ in damages
Have you ever used Rave? | Image by PhoneArena
The Canada-based software developer filed the antitrust lawsuit against Apple in a federal court in New Jersey, Reuters reports.
Not only does the company want its Rave app to be reintroduced back into the App Store for people to download it freely, but there should also be “hundreds of millions of dollars” in damages paid by Apple.
Apple doesn’t buy it
Basically, an Apple spokesperson has rejected “these baseless allegations” in a statement.
Cupertino’s side of the story has it that the Rave app was removed following “repeated guideline violations”, which Apple has allegedly “communicated to the developer on multiple occasions”.
The problem, according to Apple, was that Rave users were hosting and sharing pirated content, adult content, and, ultimately, much worse. I’m not going to refer to what kind of content Apple claims some Rave users were sharing; you can find about it in multiple Reddit threads, where people say that Rave felt like “dark web chat rooms” because there was “zero moderation”.
The other side doesn’t let go
Rave is pushing back against Apple’s accusations. The company dismissed the claims as unfounded and insisted that it maintains a strict policy against illegal or exploitative material.
According to Rave, Apple unfairly removed a competing cross-platform service from the App Store to strengthen its own market position and boost profits, all without offering what it described as a transparent or fair process.
But what is Rave?
Just don’t ask any millennial, because you’ll hear a long tirade about the good old days of electronic music.
Instead, the Rave app is a platform that allows users to watch videos together and interact across multiple operating systems, including iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS.
The Rave makers say that there were 73 million downloads of the app on iOS – it’s popular alright.
Rave CEO Michael Pazaratz argued in a press release that Apple’s decision significantly reduced consumer choice and made it harder for Apple users to interact with people on non-Apple devices through shared viewing experiences.
The company has launched similar antitrust actions against Apple in several other countries, including Canada, Russia, the Netherlands and Brazil.
