The EU Commission considers that Apple is violating the new rules of the Digital Markets Act: According to “preliminary findings” published by the regulators on Monday, Apple’s requirements for app providers are not compliant. According to the Commission, app providers and developers are still not in a position to freely refer their customers to other sales channels, as the Digital Markets Act de facto requires.
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Brussels is particularly upset by Apple’s long-disputed “anti-steering rules”: apps are only allowed to an extremely limited extent, for example referring to external shopping options or subscription options. In addition, Apple also inserts warning notices when linking to a website.
Apple’s terms and conditions therefore prohibit developers from freely referring their customers to other offerings outside of the App Store. EU Commission complains.But this is key for providers to be able to reduce their reliance on gatekeepers’ app stores, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager stressed.
Apple’s commission has fallen
The Commission is also troubled that Apple continues to charge commissions of up to 27 percent on online purchases made through an app. Apple’s fees would in fact go “far beyond” the amount appropriate for such compensation.
Apple now has time to respond to the allegations and make adjustments. A decision on Apple’s compliance with the Digital Markets Act should come by the spring of 2025. On Monday, the company once again expressed confidence in a statement that “our plan complies with the law.” Apple views its commission on web purchases as compensation for investments in the interface and developer tools.
New scrutiny: core technology fees and cumbersome sideloading
At the same time, the Commission announced on Monday that it was opening another non-compliance investigation against Apple: As has long been expected, Apple’s new fee model – the controversial Core Technology Fee – is now the focus of regulators and its concrete implementation.
The main questions are whether installing an alternative app store is too cumbersome for users and whether the barriers to sideloading are too high for app developers. Apple assumes that the app provider has a “good reputation” with the company and already sells a very popular app in the App Store. Recently it also became known that Apple is blocking the distribution of virtualization tools outside of its own App Store as well.
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