The EU isn’t happy with Apple’s tax on alternative app stores

The European Commission has conscionable issued its first Digital Markets Act (DMA) fines to Apple and Meta, and present it’s telling Apple that it’s not impressed with the company’s attack to alternate app stores. The DMA primitively forced Apple to begrudgingly let alternative app stores connected iOS successful EU countries past year, but the interest operation imposed connected developers and the daunting idiosyncratic installation process person led the European Commission to contented preliminary findings against Apple.

“Developers wanting to usage alternate app organisation channels connected iOS are disincentivized from doing truthful arsenic this requires them to opt for concern presumption which see a caller interest (Apple’s Core Technology Fee),” says the European Commission. “Apple besides introduced overly strict eligibility requirements, hampering developers’ quality to administer their apps done alternate channels.”

Apple’s arguable Core Technology Fee (CTF) applies to developers who privation to administer their apps connected third-party app marketplaces and usage alternate outgo options. Apple has been forcing developers to wage 50 euro cents for each yearly app instal aft 1 cardinal downloads, a pricey committee peculiarly for smaller developers. Apple did marque more developers exempt from its alternate app store taxation past year, allowing developers of escaped apps without monetization to debar the fee.

While the CTF is an contented for the European Commission, the fiddly process of installing alternate app marketplaces and associated apps are besides a interest for the Commission. “Apple makes it overly burdensome and confusing for extremity users to instal apps erstwhile utilizing specified alternate app organisation channels,” says the European Commission successful a statement. Apple has present been sent the Commission’s preliminary findings and volition person clip to respond to the findings earlier a last determination is made.

The European Commission has besides closed its probe into the iPhone’s browser prime surface today, ruling that changes Apple made to iOS fulfill its antitrust obligations. The probe into Apple’s default browser prime surface was launched successful March 2024, and Apple introduced respective changes successful iOS 17.4 to comply with DMA requirements, including opening up its strategy to different browser engines too its ain WebKit engine, and straight prompting users to take their ain default browser.

The European Commission says a “constructive dialogue” with Apple has resulted successful the quality for users successful the EU to uninstall immoderate apps, alteration default settings connected iOS, and take their default web browser from a prime screen.