Six months after EU regulators found Apple's App Store rules in breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), developers say Cupertino is still behaving as if compliance were optional.
The Coalition for App Fairness, a nonprofit organization of app developers and consumer groups, has accused Apple of persistent non-compliance with the DMA, warning that the company's revised App Store terms continue to impose fees which the legislation prohibits.
In an open letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and senior commissioners, the coalition argues that Apple has failed to deliver "any meaningful changes or proposals" despite an April 2025 non-compliance decision that found its App Store policies illegal and harmful to both developers and consumers.
At the heart of the complaint is money. The DMA requires so-called gatekeepers to allow developers to offer and conduct transactions outside their app stores without charge. Apple, the coalition claims, is seeking to charge commissions of up to 20 percent on those very transactions.
"This is a blatant disregard for the law with the potential to vanquish years of meaningful work by the Commission," the letter states, accusing Apple of preserving the economics of its App Store while nominally claiming compliance.
Apple has said it will roll out new App Store terms in January 2026, but developers say the company has provided no clarity on what those changes will involve or whether they will actually comply with the DMA.
"We have seen this playbook before in Europe and beyond," the signatories warn, adding that they suspect any new terms will continue to impose fees that would violate the law.
The letter argues that this uncertainty is already doing damage. Six months after Apple's last App Store terms update, developers still do not know which rules will govern their businesses or what their costs will look like in the near term.
Apple's "lack of transparency in tandem with its rushed timelines," the coalition says, is freezing investment and innovation, effectively allowing the company to "exploit its gatekeeper position by holding the entire industry hostage."
The group also points to a growing transatlantic contrast that makes Europe look like the tougher regulator with the weaker results. While Apple continues to fight DMA enforcement in the EU, US courts have moved to curb its ability to extract fees from external transactions. Following litigation brought by Epic Games, developers in the US can now communicate freely with customers about pricing and offer payment options outside Apple's ecosystem without paying commission.
... continue reading