Dutch ACM says Apple's latest changes to App Store rules, which let developers of dating apps choose payment methods, meet local and EU competition requirements
It's still unhappy about the carve-out for dating apps in the Netherlands — Apple announced on Friday that it once again updated …
Context & Ripple Effects
The ACM’s intervention began with an order requiring Apple to permit alternative payment systems for Dutch dating apps, backed by a potential fine. Apple’s March revision already allowed third-party processors but retained a 27% commission on those transactions.
The regulator now treats Apple’s latest implementation as compliant with Dutch and EU competition requirements, while still objecting to the Netherlands dating-app carve-out. That resolves the immediate compliance dispute without broadening the remedy beyond its defined app category.
First-order effects
- Dutch dating-app developers can choose their payment method under rules the ACM now considers compliant, ending Apple’s immediate exposure under the original alternative-payments order.
- Apple preserves a dating-app-specific framework in the Netherlands, but the ACM’s stated dissatisfaction with that carve-out leaves the scope of the remedy under scrutiny.
Second-order effects
- Third-party payment processors gain access to a defined set of App Store transactions, competing with Apple’s in-app purchase route for Dutch dating apps.
- Developers outside the Dutch dating-app category receive no comparable change from this ruling, making the carve-out a key limit on competitive pressure against Apple’s wider payment rules.
Third-order effects
- The case points to competition remedies that alter platform payment choice within narrowly defined markets rather than immediately rewriting App Store terms across all developers.
- If regulators continue to accept category- and jurisdiction-specific remedies, major platforms may face a patchwork of payment rules and regulated take-rate disputes instead of one uniform policy.
The trend: App-store competition enforcement is increasingly focused on opening payment choice while testing how narrowly platforms can define the affected market.