Judge OKs AliveCor Antitrust Suit Against Apple

23 MARCH 2022 - As one lawsuit goes away, another gets the go ahead. The Mac Observer says a U.S. federal judge has ruled that Apple will have to answer charges brought by AliveCor, developer of the app SmartRhythm. TMO says the company argues that:

…Apple made changes to the heart rate algorithms of the Apple Watch. These changes rendered it impossible for third-party ECG apps to send alerts to users when it’s time to take an ECG. Like Apple’s own Health Apps that are native to iOS, SmartRhythm also alerts users when irregular heart beat patterns occur.

AliveCor’s argument is that the changes made by Apple constitute a violation of antitrust law. The judge hearing the case decided that AliveCor made a strong enough case to go ahead with a case. The judge wasn’t 100% Team AliveCor though. The Mac Observer says the judge dismissed the firm’s charge “that Apple illegally monopolized the ECG-capable smartwatch market.”