Apple’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA) compliance, which changes the way developers within the European Union can use external links for their apps and listings, has drawn criticism from Epic and Spotify.
The new changes allow developers to direct users to external purchasing options outside of the App Store. This means that if you are in the EU, you can purchase subscriptions directly from an app provider.
However, these changes, which introduce a new StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement Addendum, require developers to use and agree to the StoreKit External Purchase APIs and mean that all sales of digital goods and services within the first 12 months of initial installation will be subject to an initial 5% fee.
Shortly after the new announcements and the introduction of the new fee structure, Epic CEO Tim Swinney called the new changes an “illegal new 15% junk fee” for X. He added: “It is completely uneconomical for developers to distribute their apps through both the Apple App Store and competing iOS app stores.”
In the European Union, where the new DMA law encourages competition between app stores, Apple continues its malicious compliance by imposing an illegal new 15% junk fee on users who switch to competing stores and by monitoring commerce in those competing stores.https://t.co/YUYwsnrh32 pic.twitter.com/xAWGkOWPrH8 August 2024
Epic and Spotify not too pleased
Spotify was not very happy either. The company told TechCrunch: “We are currently reviewing Apple’s deliberately confusing proposal. By charging a fee of up to 25% for basic communications with users, Apple once again blatantly disregards the basic requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The European Commission has made it clear that charging recurring fees for basic elements such as pricing and linking is unacceptable. We call on the Commission to speed up its investigation, impose daily fines and enforce the DMA.”
This is just another in a long line of disputes between the companies and Apple regarding the DMA, and we don’t seem to be any closer to a resolution that everyone involved is happy with.
Earlier this year, the European Commission imposed a hefty $1.95 billion fine on Apple for preventing the company, like Spotify, from offering its users cheaper subscription fees outside of the App Store. Months later, we are still far from resolving this dispute.
