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Japan’s smartphone competition law requires Apple to support alternative app marketplaces and payment options, but it does not let users install any app from any website without checks. Apple’s Japan-specific changes are available in iOS 26.2 and later. The App Store remains available, while apps distributed through alternative marketplaces must pass Apple’s notarization process and the marketplaces themselves must meet Apple’s authorization requirements.
What is Japan’s “Digital Antitrust Law”?
“Digital Antitrust Law” is a media shorthand, not the statute’s official name. The law is the Act on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software, also called the Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA). It regulates competition involving specified mobile software, including operating systems, app stores, browsers and search engines. The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) oversees the regime; its English overview explains the law and its implementation.
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This is an ex-ante competition regime: it places obligations on designated providers rather than simply declaring Apple’s existing business illegal through a conventional antitrust case. The JFTC designated Apple and Google as regulated providers on March 26, 2025. The designation provisions took effect earlier, on December 19, 2024; the law as a whole took effect on December 18, 2025. The JFTC’s MSCA page provides official updates.
Why did Japan focus on Apple’s app distribution?
A Japanese government competition assessment described Apple’s control of iPhone app distribution through its own App Store and considered possible measures such as third-party stores, browser downloads and default-store selection. Those were policy options discussed during the assessment, not all final legal requirements. The law ultimately requires competition measures across covered software, while Apple’s current implementation defines how alternative iPhone distribution works in Japan. The earlier assessment is available from the Cabinet Secretariat.
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What changed on iPhone in Japan?
Apple announced its Japan-specific changes on December 17, 2025. Its developer documentation identifies iOS 26.2 and later as the software supporting the new capabilities. For Japan, these include alternative app marketplaces, alternative payment processing and external purchase links, alternative browser engines subject to security and privacy requirements, browser and search-engine choice experiences, default-app controls, and an interoperability request process. Apple also describes access to certain iPhone functions, including side-button access for voice-based conversational apps. The details are in Apple’s Japan app-distribution documentation.
The App Store remains available. The changes create additional routes to distribute apps and process digital purchases; they do not remove Apple’s store or make every iPhone app available through a new channel.
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Does this count as sideloading?
“Sideloading” is used for more than one thing. It may mean installing an app from a marketplace other than the App Store, or installing an app directly from a developer’s website. Japan’s system clearly supports the first: an authorized alternative marketplace can let users download and install its marketplace app from its website, then distribute notarized iOS apps. That is not the same as unrestricted installation of arbitrary apps directly from any website.
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Notarization is not the same as App Store review
Apple describes notarization as a baseline security and functionality check for apps distributed outside the App Store. It includes automated checks and human review addressing known malware and viruses, serious security threats, basic functionality, whether an app works as claimed, and egregious fraud risks. App Store apps receive notarization plus Apple’s broader App Review process and its content and commercial policies. Apple says apps obtained outside the App Store do not receive the same protections as App Store apps; that is Apple’s characterization of the difference, not a government certification of each app.
What does this mean for iPhone users in Japan?
Users in Japan can choose to obtain apps through authorized alternative marketplaces where those are available, and may encounter more payment choices for digital purchases. They do not have to switch stores: the App Store remains an option, and the choice to use another marketplace is separate from the legal change itself.
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Before installing from another marketplace, consider who operates it, how it handles refunds and support, how it verifies developers, and what happens if the marketplace closes or stops updating an app. Alternative apps may have less comprehensive review, and parental controls, age ratings, fraud response, privacy protections and subscription management may differ. When a purchase is handled outside Apple’s payment system, Apple’s usual refund or subscription-management tools may not apply. These are practical considerations, not proof that every alternative marketplace or app is unsafe.
What changes for developers and marketplace operators?
Eligible developers can distribute apps through an alternative marketplace, operate a marketplace if they satisfy Apple’s requirements, offer alternative payment processing in Japanese App Store apps, or link users to an external site for purchases. Alternative distribution involves more than uploading an app to a website: developers must work with an authorized marketplace, satisfy applicable Apple eligibility and contractual requirements, and submit apps for notarization.
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Alternative marketplace distribution workflow
- Qualify and establish the marketplace relationship. Join Apple’s relevant developer infrastructure and work with a marketplace authorized for Japan.
- Register the relationship. Apple’s documented workflow uses App Store Connect or its API. The developer provides a developer ID and the marketplace token supplied by the marketplace.
- Select eligible apps and submit them for notarization. Notarization is required for alternative distribution under Apple’s published system.
- Coordinate updates and reporting. The developer and marketplace must handle update notifications and relevant transaction reporting under the applicable requirements.
Apple’s developer documentation is the appropriate source for current account, entitlement, eligibility and contract details, which can change.
Alternative payments do not mean zero platform fees
Apple’s Japanese terms vary by distribution route, transaction type and developer eligibility. The company announced an App Store commission of 10% for the vast majority of developers in specified programs or situations, or 21% for other covered transactions; Apple payment processing adds 5% when Apple In-App Purchase is used. For linked-website transactions, Apple announced a Store Services commission of 15%, or 10% for certain qualifying developers and subscriptions. Apps distributed outside the App Store face a 5% Core Technology Commission on paid-app and digital-goods or services sales. These are Apple’s stated terms, not a single universal rate, and other payment, marketplace, tax, fraud and support costs can also apply. See Apple’s announcement and developer terms.
Apple’s second compliance report, filed with the JFTC on June 1, 2026 and covering through March 31, 2026, described a 26% App Store rate for Apple In-App Purchase transactions, 21% for developers using alternative payment processing, and 15% for certain qualifying developers and later-year subscriptions—reduced to 10% when those qualifying transactions used alternative processing. The report also described the 5% Core Technology Commission for apps and marketplaces distributed outside the App Store. These report figures reflect the terms and categories Apple reported, rather than a universal rate. Apple said developers had until April 15, 2026 to agree to the new Japanese terms; more than 500,000 developers with apps on the Japanese storefront had agreed by March 31, 2026, according to the filing. The JFTC-hosted report contains the reported detail.
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| Issue | Japan | European Union |
|---|---|---|
| Legal framework | Mobile Software Competition Act, overseen by the JFTC. | Digital Markets Act, enforced by the European Commission. |
| Alternative app distribution | Apple must support alternative marketplaces in Japan; its published system uses authorized marketplaces and notarized apps. | Apple supports alternative distribution for EU users under EU-specific rules; the terms and regulatory disputes differ from Japan’s. |
| Payments | Alternative payment methods and external purchase links are part of Apple’s Japan implementation. | Alternative payment options are available under the DMA, subject to EU-specific terms and enforcement. |
| Geographic scope | Japan-specific distribution and features. | EU users and eligible developers under EU rules. |
The laws share competition goals, but their definitions, procedures, fees, safeguards and enforcement are not identical. An EU experience or Apple term should not be assumed to apply in Japan.
What to watch next
The law’s framework and Apple’s principal changes are already in effect; the practical impact depends on whether developers and marketplace operators build useful alternatives and whether users adopt them. The JFTC continues to publish compliance material through its compliance-report index. Future enforcement or further changes should be distinguished from the capabilities already introduced in iOS 26.2 and later.
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