App devs ask the EU to fight unfair Apple app store fees | Infinium-tech

A recent court decision in the US has been protested by EU app developers – the 9th Circuit Court has ordered Apple to stop charging developers for payments outside the App Store. Now European developers want the same and are calling on the EU to take action, saying it gives an unfair advantage to US-based developers.

This is against EU laws – as a “gatekeeper”, Apple is required to allow developers to charge customers outside the App Store without requiring them to pay a fee. However, this is not at all what Apple promised. Following the €500 million fine, the company announced a new two-tier system for Apple Store service fees. This included a 5% commission (or more) on payments made outside the store (previously, Apple forbade developers from even advertising that this was possible). After the court’s decision, Apple is not allowed to charge such commission at all in America.

European Commission Headquarters (image Source,

A Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) has been formed with notable members such as Epic, Spotify and others, who have had legal disputes with Apple over App Store policies. Jean Burruss, global policy advisor for CAF, says: “It’s bad for European companies, and it’s also bad for European consumers.” EU developers will either have to absorb the additional costs or pass them on to consumers, Burruss says.

EU developers have additional concerns they want the Union to address. Apple has announced that there will be new policy changes in 2026 — but it hasn’t yet revealed what they are, even though the new year is only a few weeks away.

Source