Apple is retiring one of the most controversial parts of its EU App Store regime: the Core Technology Fee. In its place comes a single, mandatory set of business terms for every developer distributing apps in the European Union, a reset designed to end a long-running dispute with Brussels while making Apple’s increasingly complicated compliance structure easier to navigate.

The changes, announced August 18 and effective October 1, are not a wholesale surrender of Apple’s control over the iPhone ecosystem. Far from it. Apple is still charging commissions, still reviewing apps through notarization, and still setting rules for alternative payments and distribution. But the company is shifting from a model that could charge large developers per installation to one that is more closely tied to actual digital sales.

For developers, that distinction matters. A lot.

The outgoing Core Technology Fee, or CTF, charged €0.50 for every “first annual install” above one million in the EU over a 12-month period. That applied under Apple’s alternative EU terms and was controversial because a broadly downloaded free app could face a sizable bill even if it made little or no money from those users. Apple said fewer than 1% of developers would need to pay it, but its mere existence became a symbol of the company’s attempt to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act without giving up the economics of the App Store.

Now Apple is replacing that install-based charge with a 5% Core Technology Commission. The new levy applies to digital transactions made in apps distributed outside Apple’s App Store, including through alternative marketplaces or direct web distribution. Apple is also dropping two other fees introduced in its earlier EU framework: the initial acquisition fee and the store services fee.

That makes the new setup easier to explain, at least on paper. Instead of trying to calculate what an install is worth, developers can begin with a more familiar question: what percentage of revenue will Apple take?

For apps sold through the App Store using Apple’s own In-App Purchase system, Apple will charge a 26% commission, falling to 15% for most developers in programs such as the Small Business Program, the Mini Apps Partner Program, and the Video Partner Program, as well as for auto-renewing subscriptions after their first year. Apps that use alternative payment processing will pay 20%, or 10% at the reduced rate, while apps that send users to a website to finish a purchase will pay 15%, or 10% for qualifying developers.

The figures are notable because Apple’s EU rules have been a moving target since the Digital Markets Act forced designated “gatekeepers” to open key parts of their platforms to more competition. Apple was designated as a gatekeeper for iOS, the App Store, and Safari in September 2023, with iPadOS added in April 2024.

Apple’s original response to the DMA offered developers new routes: alternative app marketplaces, web distribution, outside payment options, and the ability to link users to the web for purchases. But those options arrived with a tangled collection of conditions and charges. In 2024, the CTF alone became a flashpoint because it could apply after one million annual installs, regardless of whether the developer used Apple’s payment rails.

The European Commission was not persuaded that Apple’s first efforts went far enough. In April 2025, it found the company in breach of the DMA’s anti-steering rules and imposed a €500 million fine, arguing that Apple’s terms prevented developers from freely telling users about cheaper alternatives outside their apps.

The new announcement is therefore more than a pricing update. It is a negotiated cleanup operation. Apple says the revisions follow “close collaboration” with the Commission and resolve its disagreements over its business terms and alternative distribution. The company’s goal is to move every EU developer onto one framework, rather than forcing them to weigh old and new contractual routes with different trade-offs.

There is also a practical shift in how developers can present payment choices. Under the updated rules, an app can offer Apple’s In-App Purchase system alongside alternative payment methods, something Apple says had not previously been permitted in the EU. Developers must choose the payment options they will offer and keep them in place for 12 months, a stability requirement meant to prevent an app’s checkout experience from constantly changing.

That is potentially useful for subscription services, game publishers, and marketplaces that want to give users a choice without fully walking away from Apple’s built-in payment flow. Apple’s system remains convenient and familiar for iPhone owners, while an alternative method may let a developer avoid some processing costs or establish a more direct customer relationship. The catch, naturally, is that Apple still takes a commission in either case.

The new terms also draw a line around children’s purchases. Apps in the Kids category will not be permitted to link to a website to complete transactions. Apps using alternative payment processing or external purchase links must include a parental gate for EU users under 18, and apps cannot link users under 13 to external transaction websites at all. Apple says these protections will adjust in countries where parental-consent rules apply to older children.

Apple is widening eligibility for companies that want to run an alternative app marketplace or distribute apps directly from the web. Beyond traditional financial requirements, qualifying organizations can now include publicly traded companies, firms backed by established venture investors, entities that have completed a licensed financial audit, and government, education, or nonprofit institutions.

That broader eligibility could matter as Europe’s alternative iPhone app-distribution market starts to move beyond a handful of large, established players. Still, Apple is not removing itself from the security picture. Every app distributed outside the App Store in the EU must continue to go through notarization, Apple’s baseline review for functionality and serious security threats.

This is the familiar tension at the center of Apple’s DMA fight. Regulators want meaningful choice: competing stores, payment systems, and ways for developers to reach customers. Apple argues that iPhone users also need safeguards against fraud, malware, and deceptive payments. Both positions can be true, but the hard part is deciding how much control Apple can retain before “choice” becomes largely theoretical.

For developers, the biggest gain is predictability. The CTF made business planning awkward, especially for companies with massive reach but thin margins. A 5% commission on transactions may still sting, but it is more proportional to revenue. A free app that goes viral is no longer automatically exposed to an install-driven bill merely because it became popular.

For consumers, the immediate effect may be subtler. Most people will continue downloading apps from the App Store and paying through Apple’s familiar checkout. The more important change is that developers now have clearer incentives and rules for experimenting with alternative stores, web distribution, external payment options, or a mix of all three. Whether those choices translate into lower prices, better offers, or genuinely different app experiences will depend on how aggressively developers decide to use them.

Apple has not abandoned the App Store’s walled garden in Europe. It has redrawn the gates, simplified the tolls, and made more room for side entrances. After years of regulatory pressure and developer frustration, that may be the most consequential change of all.