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The European Commission’s June 2024 accusation was only the preliminary stage. On April 23, 2025, the Commission found Apple in breach of the Digital Markets Act’s anti-steering obligation and imposed a €500 million fine. The decision requires Apple to let developers communicate external offers, direct users to alternative purchasing channels, and conclude contracts after that referral without charges that go beyond proportionate remuneration for the user’s initial acquisition.
A separate matter involving alternative app stores, web distribution, and Apple’s Core Technology Fee remained distinct. The Commission issued preliminary findings on that issue, but the available official material does not establish that every later Apple fee or alternative-distribution question had received a final resolution.
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What “steering” means
Steering is the practice of telling an app user that a product or subscription is available elsewhere—often at a different price—and directing the user to that external purchasing channel.
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For example, a music app might tell a user that its subscription can be purchased on the developer’s website. The user follows a link, pays on the website rather than through Apple’s in-app payment system, and then continues using the subscription in the app.
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Under the DMA, designated gatekeepers must allow developers to communicate with users and steer them toward alternative purchasing options. They also cannot force developers to use the gatekeeper’s in-app payment system for transactions covered by those rules. See the European Commission’s DMA developer guidance.
What the Commission accused Apple of doing
The Commission said Apple’s App Store rules did not allow developers to communicate and promote external offers freely or to conclude contracts with users after directing them outside the App Store.
The final decision examined three sets of Apple business terms:
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- Original Business Terms: These completely prevented developers from communicating and promoting offers inside the app and from concluding contracts with users acquired through the App Store after that communication.
- New Business Terms: These allowed some link-outs but restricted the destination page, required a recurring disclosure sheet after a link-out, and imposed a recurring commission on transactions completed within seven days of each link-out. The commission could continue while users kept using the app, including for auto-renewing subscriptions.
- New Music Streaming Business Terms: These contained materially similar restrictions affecting music-streaming services.
The Commission’s objection was therefore broader than “Apple charged a commission.” Its conclusion was that the restrictions and recurring charges made steering insufficiently free and effective. The Official Journal summary of the decision sets out the relevant terms and reasoning.
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Why the developer fees mattered
The Commission did not say that every form of Apple remuneration was automatically prohibited. Its decision accepted that Apple could, in principle, receive payment for facilitating a customer’s initial acquisition.
The problem was a charge that continued beyond that acquisition, applied to transactions completed after a user had been steered elsewhere, or paid Apple for broader “gatekeeper value” rather than for the initial customer acquisition.
In the Commission’s reasoning, permissible acquisition remuneration must be connected to the initial acquisition and proportionate to the value of that acquisition. A recurring commission on later transactions after a developer had linked the user out was not limited in that way.
Timeline: from accusation to fine
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| September 5, 2023 | The Commission designated Apple’s iOS, Safari, and App Store as gatekeeper services under the DMA. |
| March 7, 2024 | Apple’s DMA obligations became applicable to its designated services. |
| March 25, 2024 | The Commission opened proceedings into Apple’s App Store steering rules and began investigating its new fee structure for alternative app stores. |
| June 24, 2024 | The Commission issued preliminary findings on steering and opened an additional investigation into Apple’s alternative-distribution terms and Core Technology Fee. |
| April 23, 2025 | The Commission found Apple in breach of the DMA’s anti-steering obligation and imposed a €500 million fine. It separately issued preliminary findings concerning alternative app distribution. |
| June 16, 2025 | The Commission’s summary of the Apple decision was published in the Official Journal. |
| June 26, 2025 | Apple’s developer documentation said a 5% Core Technology Commission began applying in specified external-purchase circumstances. |
| January 1, 2026 | Apple’s documentation said it planned to transition to a single EU business model and related Core Technology Commission structure. The reviewed material does not independently establish the full implementation status. |
| April 28, 2026 | The Commission’s first DMA review said the law had opened opportunities for developers and that alternative app stores had launched. That broad review did not resolve every Apple-specific fee or compliance question. |
Sources include the Commission’s March 2024 proceedings announcement, its June 2024 preliminary findings, and its April 2025 enforcement decision.
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What Apple was ordered to change
The Commission ordered Apple to:
- Allow developers to communicate and promote offers in any form;
- Allow developers to conclude contracts following steering, both inside and outside the app;
- Make communication, promotion, and post-steering contracting free of charge;
- Limit permissible acquisition remuneration to the initial acquisition;
- Ensure that remuneration is proportionate to that acquisition; and
- Avoid fees covering broader services connected to general “gatekeeper value.”
Apple was given 60 calendar days from notification to end the non-compliance. The decision also allowed periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of Apple’s average daily worldwide turnover if Apple failed to comply.
The €500 million payment is a DMA non-compliance fine. It is not a damages award or compensation payment distributed to developers.
The separate dispute over alternative app distribution
The anti-steering case should not be confused with the separate investigation into Apple’s terms for alternative app marketplaces, apps distributed through alternative channels, sideloading, and web distribution.
That investigation also examined Apple’s Core Technology Fee and the conditions developers had to accept to use DMA-enabled capabilities. In April 2025, the Commission issued preliminary findings that Apple’s alternative-distribution conditions could discourage developers from using third-party app stores or web distribution. It cited the Core Technology Fee, strict eligibility requirements, and a confusing or burdensome installation process.
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Those were preliminary findings, not the same final decision that produced the €500 million anti-steering fine. The Commission’s announcement is available in its alternative-distribution update.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Apple’s EU fee model
Apple’s own EU developer documentation describes alternative business terms with several possible charges:
- A reduced commission of 10% for the vast majority of developers and qualifying subscriptions after the first year, or 17% in other described cases;
- An additional 3% payment-processing fee when the developer uses Apple’s payment processing; and
- A Core Technology Fee of €0.50 for each first annual install above one million for high-volume apps under the alternative terms.
Apple says developers that have not previously exceeded one million first annual installs receive a three-year free on-ramp to the Core Technology Fee, subject to the conditions in its documentation. It also says developers can remain on existing terms, while alternative distribution and alternative payment capabilities require adoption of the alternative business terms.
Apple’s documentation further says that, beginning June 26, 2025, a 5% Core Technology Commission applied in specified circumstances to sales of digital goods or services that developers communicate and promote in the app. The page also described a planned transition from the Core Technology Fee to a single EU business model and related commission structure from January 1, 2026. These are Apple’s stated terms and plans; they should not be treated as a Commission finding that every element is compliant or as independent confirmation of every planned implementation.
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What the choice means for developers
| Question | Existing terms | Alternative terms described by Apple |
|---|---|---|
| App Store distribution | Yes | Yes |
| Alternative app marketplaces | No, according to Apple’s terms page | Yes |
| Alternative payment processing | No | Yes |
| Commission | Apple’s existing commission structure | 10% or 17% in described cases |
| Apple payment processing | Included under the existing model | Additional 3% if used |
| Technology-related charge | Not described in the same way | €0.50 per first annual install above the threshold under described Core Technology Fee terms |
| Main trade-off | Simplicity and Apple commerce tools | More flexibility, but more operational complexity and potentially more fees |
A lower headline commission does not automatically mean a lower total cost. Developers must compare payment processing, technology or acquisition charges, fraud prevention, tax handling, refunds, customer support, subscription management, reconciliation, and the commercial value of App Store discovery and trust.
Developers using external payments may also take on more responsibility for payment operations, fraud, tax, support, and subscription administration. Apple says the same storefront cannot simultaneously offer App Store In-App Purchase and in-app communication promoting external offers under its alternative terms.
What it means for consumers
The DMA can give users more visibility into cheaper external offers and more choice over payment channels and app distribution. It does not guarantee that developers will reduce prices.
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The practical question for consumers is not simply whether an external offer exists, but whether the price difference is large enough to justify a different payment and support experience.
What the decision does—and does not—mean
- It does mean: the Commission found Apple in breach of the DMA anti-steering obligation on April 23, 2025.
- It does not mean: the EU banned every Apple commission or App Store charge.
- It does mean: Apple must remove restrictions that prevent effective communication, steering, and post-steering contracting.
- It does not mean: Apple was ordered to open its App Store worldwide. The DMA applies to the European Union.
- It does not establish: that the Core Technology Fee was finally declared unlawful in the same decision.
- It does not establish: that Apple was fully compliant with every later fee or alternative-distribution requirement by 2026.
Bottom line for developers and users
The headline “EU accuses Apple” describes the June 2024 starting point, not the definitive outcome. The final anti-steering case ended with a €500 million DMA fine and an order requiring Apple to make external communication and post-steering contracting genuinely available.
The economics remain more complicated than a simple ban on Apple fees. Apple’s alternative EU terms may combine reduced commissions with payment-processing, technology, or acquisition-related charges, while the Commission’s separate scrutiny of alternative app distribution and the Core Technology Fee must be tracked independently.
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