San Francisco, Dec 1 (IANS): Apple has hired prominent venture capitalist Josh Elman to ramp up its App Store amid the controversy surrounding the developer fee and an ongoing legal battle with Epic Games over the removal of Fortnite game.

As part of this transition to Apple, Elman will step back from some of its active boards and investments.

"I'm joining Apple to work on @AppStore and help customers discover the best apps for them," he said in a tweet late on Monday.

"I'm really excited to get to build ways to help over a billion customers and millions of developers connect", he added.

His appointment comes at a time when Apple's stewardship of the App Store has been called into question by critics, rivals and regulators, reports The Verge.

Elman is previously a board member of and investor in Houseparty, the chat app acquired by Fortnite creator Epic Games.

Epic is currently suing Apple over the removal of Fortnite from the App Store in August this year.

Facing flak for App Store's 30 per cent standard commission for paid app revenue and in-app purchases, Apple last month unveiled a new developer programme that will reduce the charge by half for small businesses that earn up to $1 million in revenue from January 1.

The move came at an important time as small and independent developers continue working to innovate and thrive during a period of unprecedented global economic challenge.

The tech giant has also extended its deadline for requiring in-app purchases for online group events within iOS apps from December to June 30 next year.

Apple earlier temporarily waived its customary 30 per cent App Store fee on in-app purchases for paid online events by small businesses on Facebook.