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LONDON (AP) — Apple has revamped its app store policies in the
European Union with hopes of fending off escalating fines under
the 27-nation bloc's digital competition regulations.
It's a last-minute bid by the iPhone maker to avoid further
charges following a 500 million euro ($585 million) penalty in
April. The bloc's executive Commission punished Apple for
preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options
outside its App Store, and gave it a 60-day deadline, which
expired Thursday, to avoid additional, periodic fines.
The changes made by Apple will make it easier for app makers to
point users to better deals on digital products and options to
pay for them outside of Apple's own App Store, including other
websites, apps or alternative app stores.
The California company is also rolling out a two-tier system of
fees to accommodate app developers that want to use alternative
payments.
“The European Commission is requiring Apple to make a series of
additional changes to the App Store," Apple said in a statement.
"We disagree with this outcome and plan to appeal.”
The commission noted Apple’s announcement and “will now assess
these new business terms for DMA compliance,” referring to the
EU’s Digital Markets Act. The rulebook was designed to rein in
the power of big tech companies under threat of hefty fines
worth up to 10% of a company's global annual revenue.
Among the DMA’s provisions are requirements that developers
inform customers of cheaper purchasing options, and direct them
to those offers.
Apple's restrictions preventing developers from steering users
to outside payment channels had been fiercely opposed by some
companies. It's the reason, for example, Spotify removed the
in-app payment option to avoid having to pay a commission of up
to 30% on digital subscriptions bought through iOS.
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