Apple issues an updated version of the developer’s licence agreement on Wednesday, with additional provisions authorizing it to recover unpaid commissions or other fees by deducting applied in-purchases processed on behalf of the developer. This change will affect areas where local law allows developers to use external payment systems. In such cases, the developer must declare the income generated through the external payment system and pay the corresponding commission or fee.
The revised agreement appears to provide a way for apples to collect what they consider to be the right cost when they consider that the developer understates income. Apple policies in this area are complex, but may affect market developers such as the EU, the United States and Japan. Under local law, developers who use external payment systems may have to pay different standard fees for apples (in the United States, the legality of such commissions is still in dispute, and earlier this month the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that district courts should consider allowing apples to collect part of the commissions, but not the full rate of 27 per cent previously). In the new version of the protocol, Apple declared that it would “debit or recover” what it considered to be due, including “any fees you charge to the end user”. This means that apples can be deducted directly from the one-time costs of the developer ‘ s application (e.g. digital goods, services and subscriptions) or the fee application. In addition, apples emphasize their right to collect fees “at any time” and “on an irregular basis”, and if they determine that the developer is miscalculating, the developer may face an unexpected deduction. The agreement did not specify how apples would be able to determine the amount owed.
Developers ‘ fees over time are limited in type, including, inter alia, commissions, fees and taxes. This includes “core technical services fees” in the EU area, which are currently charged at Euro0.5 per installation for the first time in the last 12 months in excess of 1 million installed. Since January 2026, apples will replace the fee with a more sophisticated proportional fee model, the “core technical commission”, and charge for the application using external payment modalities or distribution under the EU alternative commercial clause. The updated agreement also authorized Apple to recover outstanding amounts from “subsidiary, parent or subsidiary” associated with the outstanding account. In practice, apples may be deducted from other applications issued by developers or parent companies. These changes are detailed in annex 2 and annex 3, section 3.4 (provisions relating to the delivery of applications to end users). There are other changes to the protocol: Apple has added provisions on age verification techniques, new rules for iOS applications in Japan, and requirements for voice-based assistants (e.g., AI chat robots activated through iPhone side buttons) to prohibit the recording of audio recordings (including screens that are often used to screen for application problems or location gaps) without user awareness.
Apples do not completely prohibit such activities, but the new provision states that “Your application shall not be designed to assist in the recording of information without the knowledge of others”, and the implementation scale remains to be seen.
