Apple updates the rules for its EU App Store by adding more complicated fees
Apple on Thursday announced a series of updates to its developer policies to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The news, which was expected, arrived just in time to meet the deadline of June 26, after which the iPhone maker would risk new fines. The changes involve both how app developers can communicate with their customers and the fees Apple charges.
EU regulators had earlier fined Apple €500 million for non-compliance with the DMA and were threatening to impose further penalties, forcing Apple's hand.
In terms of Apple's new 'anti-steering' rules, which dictate customer communications, EU app developers will now be able to link to alternative ways to pay for subscriptions and other in-app purchases outside the App Store across any channel. That means they can share this link on a website, an alternative app marketplace, within another app, and more. These links can also be accessed outside the app or within the app using a web view or native experience, Apple said, and don't have to use warning screens or the text that Apple previously required.
In addition, instead of dropping its Core Technology Fee (CTF), Apple introduced a more complex fee structure.
There's now an initial acquisition fee (2%) and a store services fee. The latter is either 13% or 5%, depending on the tier the developer chooses. (Small Business program members pay 10%). Tier 1 developers have access to a more limited set of App Store services, including app reviews, manual updates, and antifraud measures. Tier 2 provides access to marketing tools, automatic updates, curation and personalization features, app insights, and more.
Then, for apps that want to link to alternative methods of payment via the StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement (EU) Addendum, there's a Core Technology Commission (CTC). This will ultimately replace the Core Technology Fee (CTF).
Before today, the developers paid the Core Technology Fee of €0.50 for each app install after the app topped 1 million downloads. That will continue for developers on the alternative EU business terms.
For developers on the standard terms in the EU, the CTC — a 5% commission — will instead apply. Developers who currently pay the old CTF will move to the new rules by January 1, 2026.
'The CTC reflects the value Apple provides developers through ongoing investments in the tools, technologies, and services that enable them to build and share innovative apps with users,' Apple said in a statement.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, whose company sued Apple and won the right to use alternative payments without a commission in the U.S., reacted to the news on X, calling it more malicious compliance from Apple.
'Apple's new Digital Markets Act malicious compliance scheme is blatantly unlawful in both Europe and the United States and makes a mockery of fair competition in digital markets. Apps with competing payments are not only taxed but commercially crippled in the App Store,' he said.
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