Apple overhauls EU App Store to comply with DMA: developers can push offers and alt payments, and the Core Technology Fee will be swapped for tiered commission
• developers can now link to promotions beyond their website without limits on URLs or UI — • users can now opt out of seeing the “scare sheet” that warns users about purchasing items outside the App Store Mastodon: @nixCraft@mastodon.social : The European Commission has required Apple to make a series of additional changes under the Digital Markets Act: https://developer.apple.com/ ... It means users in EU can download and install apps from 3rd party website, alternative app marketplace, or another app. Marcin Krzyzanowski / @krzyzanowskim@mastodon.social : Apple is moving from “Core Technology Fee” to “Core Technology Commission” in EU. — I'm pretty sure EU said CTF is not compliant, and the CTC won't be compliant. — If that's not going to impose a penalty for malicious compliance 🤷 — https://developer.apple.com/ ... [images] X: Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : 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. @dhh : Apple now has three(?!) different types of fees across two different tiers for developers in Europe. Absolutely draconian, bureaucratic nightmare. Can't believe Apple is willing to torch all semblance of simplicity just to spite the EU. https://www.macrumors.com/... Gene Burrus / @geneburrus : Apple has chosen defiance of the law rather than compliance. Compliance with Article 5(4) of the DMA has always been as simple as striking a few lines from its developer agreement. Following a non-compliance decision by the EC in April, Apple has declared itself above the law. Kosta Eleftheriou / @keleftheriou : Apple explaining their new tax structure for app developers: [Explaining conspiracy meme gif from “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"] Ryan Jones / @rjonesy : Good luck deciphering the new-new rules devs. I give up.🤷♂️ 8% to get ratings is something. Heads devs lose, tails Apple wins. [image] Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : Apple blocks auto-updates to these apps, cripples search for them, and blocks customer support and family sharing, and otherwise ensures that using these apps will be an intentionally-miserable experience for users and a commercial failure for developers. Ryan Jones / @rjonesy : Zero developer friends can figure out what normal app commissions will be. None. 😞https://developer.apple.com/ ... Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : In the spirit of always proposing a solution when raising a problem, here's how it should work: 1) the App Store provides all of its best features for all developers and apps; 2) all developers are free to use Apple payments, developer payments, or any combination, however they want; 3) Apple only charges for its payment services, and doesn't impose an Apple Tax on competing payment services or any other junk fees like its Core Technology Fee... Benjamin Mayo / @bzamayo : So the updated EU thing is basically we've gone from 27% to 18% and it's now only for purchases commenced directly from an in-app action going to the web? (plus an additional 2% fee for the first six months) Jason Kint / @jason_kint : I have zero confidence the European Commission is up to the challenge of dealing with Apple's compliance theatre games. In addition to tech monopolists' attempts to make EU's smart DMA regs into a political football (or is it a futbol?). Anyway, call Judge YGR for advice. [image] Forums: Hacker News : Apple Will Transition from the CTF to the CTC for EU Businesses
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s first DMA package opened alternative app stores while attaching a per-install Core Technology Fee; subsequent web-linking rules still retained significant conditions and fees. The current revision is the next step in that evolving EU-only commercial framework.
It also follows the Commission’s preliminary view that Apple’s anti-steering rules breached the DMA, making the changes consequential not just for distribution but for how developers can communicate and monetize offers.
First-order effects
- EU developers can direct users to promotions and alternative payment options with fewer link and interface constraints, while users may decline the external-purchase warning screen.
- Apple replaces the Core Technology Fee with a tiered Core Technology Commission, shifting the applicable economics and compliance calculations for developers using the EU terms.
Second-order effects
- Developers must reassess whether web payments, alternative marketplaces, or App Store distribution produce the best net outcome under the new commission tiers; payment and distribution partners gain a clearer route to compete for those transactions.
- Apple’s revised terms may reduce one visible barrier to off-store purchasing, but the multiple fee types and tiers keep pricing, eligibility, and compliance a central operational issue for developers.
Third-order effects
- The EU App Store is becoming a separately governed version of Apple’s platform, where regulation constrains steering and distribution controls while Apple seeks to preserve a monetization layer through revised commissions.
- If enforcement continues to test both restrictions and fee design, the durable question will shift from whether alternative routes are permitted to whether their economic terms enable meaningful competition.
The trend: DMA enforcement is pushing mobile gatekeepers from uniform app-store rules toward region-specific distribution and payment regimes built around regulated platform take rates.