Apple is Breaking the Law By Charging Fees for Steering, Imposing Restrictions on Third Party Stores

April 23, 2025

Today the European Commission found that Apple is violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA).  The DMA requires Apple to allow developers to send customers outside apps to make purchases, and find other app distribution channels, free of charge. Apple is breaking the law by imposing illegal fees, scare screens and restrictions on purchases made outside the App Store. 

Now Apple is required to make changes and pay a fine.

The European Commission also announced preliminary findings that Apple’s restrictions on alternative distribution, including the Core Technology Fee violate the DMA. Apple intentionally evaded the DMA by making distribution on alternative stores unviable for developers and their lengthy and misleading third party store install process deters most consumers. 

Apple’s pattern of malicious compliance must end the following technical and commercial restrictions: 

  • Apple must allow apps downloaded from the App Store to steer customers to third party stores.
  • Apple must not charge any fees on purchases that are made outside of an app.
  • Apple must eliminate restrictions on the language, style and flow that developers can use to link to their website or to access an alternative payment system. In simple words: Apple must end the scare screens they pop up in front of Epic Games Store to deter customers from doing business with us.
  • Apple must not track, surveil, or require developers to send Apple data about purchases that consumers make outside apps.
  • Apple must allow developers to advertise lower prices and communicate directly with their customers.

Google is just as bad. The European Commission recently released preliminary findings that Google is also violating the anti-steering rules in the DMA.

These actions make it all the more urgent that other policymakers in the UK, Japan, Brazil continue to hold Apple and Google accountable. The United States was one of the first countries to introduce mobile app store competition legislation to address these anti-competitive practices that suppress free speech and choice, raise prices and block innovation. Now is the time to follow through.