Apple Overhauls European App Store Terms to Settle EU Competition Dispute
Key Takeaways
- •Apple will eliminate its Core Technology Fee and replace it with a 5% commission on digital transactions for apps distributed outside the App Store.
- •European in-app purchase commissions will fall to 26%, while developers in partner programs or with auto-renewing subscriptions will pay 15%.
- •The new terms will allow alternative payment methods alongside Apple’s own system and broaden access to outside app distribution and monetization in Europe.
- •The European Commission said it will monitor Apple’s implementation and can impose fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover under the Digital Markets Act.
- •Apple is also planning parental approval requirements for users under 18 who access alternative payment processing or web transaction links.
Apple has agreed to overhaul its European App Store terms — including the elimination of per-install fees for developers who distribute iPhone apps outside its marketplace — in order to resolve a competition dispute with the European Union.
Announcing the changes on Tuesday, Apple said it will replace its Core Technology Fee — a €0.50 charge on each first annual install beyond one million downloads, introduced with Apple's EU alternative terms and criticized by developers including Spotify and Epic Games as blunting the law's intent — with a 5% commission on digital transactions made through apps distributed outside the App Store. The company will also cut its commission on European in-app purchases to 26%, down from the standard 30%, while developers in partner programs or offering auto-renewing subscriptions will pay 15%.
Under the new policies, alternative payment methods will be permitted alongside Apple's own payment tool, and the number of European companies eligible to distribute and monetize iPhone apps outside the App Store will expand. The Digital Markets Act, whose obligations have applied to Apple since March 2024, requires the EU-designated 'gatekeepers' — a list of seven companies that also includes Alphabet, Amazon, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft and Booking — to allow alternative app distribution, payment options and steering to outside offers.
The changes take effect Oct. 1. The European Commission welcomed the announcement and said it would monitor Apple's implementation, with the power under the law to impose fines of up to 10% of a company's global annual turnover.
Apple is also planning child-safety measures that will require parental approval when users under 18 access alternative payment processing or links to web transactions.
The EU fined Apple €500 million in 2025 for violating the Digital Markets Act by restricting developers from directing users to purchases outside the App Store. The latest changes address a separate investigation, opened in March 2024, into whether Apple's alternative business terms — including the Core Technology Fee — complied with the law. Apple faces separate regulatory actions over its store rules elsewhere, including a U.S. Justice Department antitrust lawsuit and a Japanese law adopted in 2024 that requires large smartphone operating-system providers to allow third-party app stores and payments.