Apple has been dealt a major blow in its ongoing trial against Fortnite-maker Epic Games.

A court in Oakland, California, has ruled that Apple cannot stop app developers directing users to third-party payment options.

Apple had argued that all apps should use Apple's own in-app payment options.

In a high profile trial, Epic Games had challenged the up-to-30% cut Apple takes from purchases - and argued that the App Store was monopolistic, BBC reported.

On Friday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers ruled that "the court cannot ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist".

For example, a movie-streaming service will now be able to tell customers to subscribe via its own website, without using Apple's in-app purchasing mechanism.

Epic has also taken legal action against Google over its Play Store.