Apple EU App Store fees overhauled to resolve DMA antitrust dispute

This overhaul removes the financial risk for free-to-play or ad-supported streaming apps that previously faced high per-install costs regardless of revenue. By allowing side-by-side payment options, Apple is finally enabling direct price competition between its own billing system and developer-owned platforms within the iOS environment. For the broader streaming ecosystem, this provides a blueprint for how platform holders may attempt to satisfy global regulatory pressure while maintaining a percentage of external digital transactions. Watch for the European Commission's formal response to confirm if these specific commission percentages satisfy the Digital Markets Act's anti-steering requirements.

The European Commission's enforcement posture under the Digital Markets Act has intensified throughout 2025 and 2026, with Apple's fee overhaul arriving after sustained regulatory pressure. In April 2025, the Commission formally found Apple in breach of its anti-steering obligation under Article 5(4) of the DMA and imposed a €500 million fine, concluding that Apple's restrictions prevented app developers from fully benefiting from alternative distribution channels outside the App Store. The non-compliance decision ordered Apple to bring the violations to an end within 60 days and warned of periodic penalty payments not exceeding 5% of average daily worldwide turnover if it failed to comply. That ruling specifically targeted the per-install Core Technology Fee and the multi-step confirmation screens that Apple required before apps could link to external purchases, both of which the company has now modified in its revised structure.

For streaming services, the practical impact centers on how subscription and transactional video apps monetize European users. The Commission's non-compliance decision published in the Official Journal found that none of Apple's business terms available in the EU, including the Original Business Terms, the New Business Terms, and the New Music Streaming Business Terms, complied with Article 5(4). This finding directly affected music and video streaming apps that had sought to steer users toward cheaper external subscription offers. Spotify, which filed the original complaint that led to Apple's earlier €1.84 billion antitrust fine, had argued that the previous fee structure made it economically irrational for any developer to bypass In-App Purchase. With the new 5% Core Technology Commission replacing the per-install charge, streaming apps with large free-tier user bases no longer face a fixed cost per download that could exceed their per-user revenue.

Apple's revised structure also lands amid broader regulatory convergence on app marketplace rules. The DMA's developer portal outlines obligations requiring gatekeepers to allow alternative app distribution through third-party stores or the web, prohibit mandatory use of in-app purchase systems, and apply fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory access conditions. These provisions create a framework that other jurisdictions are watching closely as they draft their own platform competition rules. Apple's decision to standardize a percentage-based commission across its EU operations suggests the company is converging on a single framework rather than maintaining region-specific fee schedules, though the European Commission has not yet confirmed whether the 5% rate satisfies the DMA's proportionality standard under Article 8(1), which requires gatekeepers to demonstrate that compliance measures are effective in achieving the regulation's objectives.