Report: Apple to Announce More App Store Concessions for the EU

[MacRumors]

Apple is engaged in eleventh-hour negotiations with European Union regulators in an effort to delay or avoid a new wave of financial penalties stemming from noncompliance with the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Financial Times reports.

The company is under pressure to make significant changes to its App Store policies in the European Union after being fined €500 million earlier this year for preventing developers from directing users to alternative purchasing options outside of Apple's in-app payment system. That practice, referred to by regulators as "anti-steering," is explicitly prohibited under the DMA, which came into effect for designated gatekeepers, including Apple, in March 2024.

People involved in the discussions told the Financial Times that Apple is preparing to offer new concessions ahead of a Thursday, June 26 deadline, after which the European Commission is empowered to impose escalating daily fines of up to 5% of Apple's average global turnover. Based on Apple's 2023 revenue of $383 billion, such fines could amount to more than $50 million per day.

Apple's expected concessions will primarily relate to its steering rules, which have previously required developers to use Apple's payment infrastructure and prohibited them from linking users to external purchasing platforms. The upcoming proposals may ease those restrictions.

Apple introduced a new framework for alternative app marketplaces in the EU in iOS 17.4, which went into effect in March. The update allows developers to distribute apps through third-party app stores and to use alternative payment methods within their own apps.

However, some major developers and the European Commission itself argue that the changes do not go far enough to satisfy the requirements of the DMA. In particular, attention has focused on the Core Technology Fee (CTF), a charge of €0.50 per annual install on apps distributed outside the App Store after the first one million downloads. Sources cited by the Financial Times said the Core Technology Fee has also been part of the recent discussions between Apple and the European Commission.


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Article Link: Report: Apple to Announce More App Store Concessions for the EU

 

[Ctrlos]

Regardless of the downsides the open web, the Mac and PC have all benefited from being open platforms more than they've lost out. The closed models of smartphones has created a generation of the IT-illiterate more reliant on corporate overlords than personal responsibility. There is something very wrong with that. Blah Blah viruses but we avoid those as a medical condition by properly educating people, not making them 100% reliable on big pharma.

Increased competition only improves things for customers in the end and opening up distribution leaves room for startup business models. If Apple are worried about developers leaving them behind they should improve their offering and make it more competitive.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Whatever. This news story is very played already. IMO minuscule amount of App Store users will veer off. Who wants more users and passwords, new subscriptions everywhere(to forget about cancelling), security and privacy concerns(with your financials no less). I mean the reasons for not leaving go on and on.

 

[TechWhisperer]

Apple’s recent struggles under the weight of the European Union’s regulatory authority reveal a rare moment of vulnerability for the tech giant.

 

[melchior]

Regardless of the downsides the open web, the Mac and PC have all benefited from being open platforms more than they've lost out. The closed models of smartphones has created a generation of the IT-illiterate more reliant on corporate overlords than personal responsibility. There is something very wrong with that. Blah Blah viruses but we avoid those as a medical condition by properly educating people, not making them 100% reliable on big pharma.

Increased competition only improves things for customers in the end and opening up distribution leaves room for startup business models. If Apple are worried about developers leaving them behind they should improve their offering and make it more competitive.

right, apple just fell into a free money tap, and it is impossible for them to willingly turn it off, they need to be forced. whether legal or not would need to be decided by courts, but shareholders would sue in a heartbeat.

 

[gleepskip]

Apple Music just dug up "Jerk It Out" by the Caesars. Hearing it makes me reminiscent of a simpler and happier time as an Apple fan.

 

[I7guy]

The eu wants to make iOS equal android. iOS is iOS and is popular for a reason. The small minority who don’t like Apple to have this control have alternatives. This is not creating competition it’s creating a set of scenarios that will bite the eu in the long run.

 

[Ctrlos]

right, apple just fell into a free money tap, and it is impossible for them to willingly turn it off, they need to be forced. whether legal or not would need to be decided by courts, but shareholders would sue in a heartbeat.

Shareholders are happy with the Mac as an open platform. This is Apple's classic double standards again, just like when they refused to put USB-C on the iPhone despite selling a TV remote that included it. Making the iPhone open doesn't remove the App Store distribution model. Plenty of devs use the Mac App Store after all. But as a customer you can also choose the open web, old repositories, Steam, Epic, GOG and a lot of other storefronts. Nothing wrong with some good old fashioned choice.

 

[Ctrlos]

The eu wants to make iOS equal android. iOS is iOS and is popular for a reason. The small minority who don’t like Apple to have this control have alternatives. This is not creating competition it’s creating a set of scenarios that will bite the eu in the long run.

I want the iPhone like the Mac, there I can choose Apple or an alternative. If Apple truly believed closed platforms were the way forward they would have sealed the Mac to the App Store years ago.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I want the iPhone like the Mac, there I can choose Apple or an alternative. If Apple truly believed closed platforms were the way forward they would have sealed the Mac to the App Store years ago.

Agreed. I don't care about Andoid as I don't use it, but I do use MacOS, and would prefer iOS to be on the same level.

 

[Plutonius]

Based on decisions in the past, the EU will never accept the concessions.

Fines are worth more .

 

[ToothBlueth]

The eu wants to make iOS equal android. iOS is iOS and is popular for a reason. The small minority who don’t like Apple to have this control have alternatives. This is not creating competition it’s creating a set of scenarios that will bite the eu in the long run.

I, on the otherhand, do not think Apple is incapable in making good products, and believe they could compete when they finally have to use their creativity and innovation when fair competition is possible.

 

[surferfb]

I, on the otherhand, do not think Apple is incapable in making good products, and believe they could compete when they finally have to use their creativity and innovation when fair competition is possible.

Apple is already doing that. All the EU has done is taken what makes Apple special and given it away to its competitors for free.

 

[Sophisticatednut]

Based on decisions in the past, the EU will never accept the concessions.

Fines are worth more .

Indeed. But it will accept them following the law. Following the rules is worth more

 

[ToothBlueth]

Based on decisions in the past, the EU will never accept the concessions.

Fines are worth more .

Why would the EU make concessions? It sets the rules for companies to trade in its market.

 

[surferfb]

I want the iPhone like the Mac, there I can choose Apple or an alternative. If Apple truly believed closed platforms were the way forward they would have sealed the Mac to the App Store years ago.

Different platforms, with different user bases. iOS has ~2 billion users; the Mac has ~100 million. What DMA defenders forget is that iOS is used by a much larger, and much less sophisticated user base. What works for Mac does not necessarily work for iOS.

 

[TechWhisperer]

Shareholders are happy with the Mac as an open platform. This is Apple's classic double standards again, just like when they refused to put USB-C on the iPhone despite selling a TV remote that included it. Making the iPhone open doesn't remove the App Store distribution model. Plenty of devs use the Mac App Store after all. But as a customer you can also choose the open web, old repositories, Steam, Epic, GOG and a lot of other storefronts. Nothing wrong with some good old fashioned choice.

Greater choice empowers greater freedom.

 

[surferfb]

Why would the EU make concessions? It sets the rules for companies to trade in its market.

EU accepting Apple's concessions. Like when Apple presented changes, the EU told them to hold off on making the changes, then fined Apple for not making the changes. The EU is not a honest actor here.

 

[ToothBlueth]

Apple is already doing that. All the EU has done is taken what makes Apple special and given it away to its competitors for free.

It is what made Apple lazy, they might be affraid they actually have to do work again.

 

[surferfb]

It is what made Apple lazy, they might be affraid they actually have to do work again.

"Let's pretend Apple doesn't compete massively with Android and Chinese competitors"

Ludicrous. Just because you've said "I won't use the competition" doesn't mean the competition doesn't exist.

 

[ToothBlueth]

"Let's pretend Apple doesn't compete massively with Android and Chinese competitors"

Ludicrous. Just because you've said "I won't use the competition" doesn't mean the competition doesn't exist.

Well, the EU (and a growing number of states around the world) is doing the good thing here, and Apple will have to comply.

 

[surferfb]

Well, the EU (and a growing number of states around the world) is doing the good thing here, and Apple will have to comply.

Yes Apple will have to. Apple should absolutely follow the laws in the jurisdictions it operates in.

Doesn't mean it's a good law, morally right, won't make products worse, or completely explain why the EU is a wasteland when it comes to innovation.

 

[ToothBlueth]

Doesn't mean it's a good law, morally right, won't make products worse,

I will agree to disagree, I guess time will tell.

or completely explain why the EU is a wasteland when it comes to innovation.

The EU is not a waste land for innovation, but I agree there should be more efficiency for cooperations in the EU to merge and operate accross the EU. This is something that is being worked on, something that I guess will take some time.

 

[Sophisticatednut]

EU accepting Apple's concessions. Like when Apple presented changes, the EU told them to hold off on making the changes, then fined Apple for not making the changes. The EU is not a honest actor here.

Any evidence for this? Or another case of misunderstanding?

I would bet the changes Apple presented didn’t comply either.

 

[surferfb]

Any evidence for this? Or another case of misunderstanding?

I would bet the changes Apple presented didn’t comply either.

It’s been reported by multiple news sources, and the EU hasn’t denied it. One such source:

Apple to appeal €500M digital fine over EU’s silence in compliance talks

The company contends that it made a series of proposals to the Commission over the course of 2024 but did not receive feedback.

www.politico.eu

According to correspondence seen by POLITICO, Apple offered last summer to drop its rules on how app developers can communicate with users, but was told by the Commission to hold off, pending feedback from developers.