To assist in resolving a months-long dispute with Dutch regulators, Apple published a revised version of its App Store guidelines today that allows local dating applications to accept payments via third-party processors. Until now, Apple’s bids to comply with a December judgement requiring the adjustment had been rejected by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), resulting in a punishment of 50 million euros.
Apple previously declared that it would allow dating apps to accept alternate payment methods, but with a slew of caveats. Developers would have to submit a separate programme binary to the Dutch App Store and would have to choose between using the Dutch App Store’s in-app payment system or a third-party one, rather than offering both in the same app. And, perhaps most significantly, it stated that it intended to charge a 27% commission on payments made using other payment systems.
Apple is also abandoning its reliance on a distinct binary for programmes that interact with external payment systems. According to Apple, “this change implies that developers can incorporate either entitlement in their existing dating app but must restrict its use to the app’s marketplace in the Netherlands and on iOS or iPadOS devices.” Additionally, it detailed how to evaluate non-Apple payment system providers and included samples of the pages that apps must display to clients when they are about to connect with a non-Apple payment service.
The issue with the Dutch competition authority is confined to a single type of software on the App Store. However, it is part of a global wave of antitrust scrutiny directed against Apple. The EU’s Digital Markets Act, which takes effect this fall, may force all apps to enable external payment processors, while South Korea recently enacted a similar law. Apple’s in-app payment system was the subject of a high-profile legal battle with Epic Games that ended with a US judge directing Apple to allow developers to link to alternative payment methods. The order later stayed pending appeal.
