Apple’s compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which came into force in March 2024, made changes that would have seemed unlikely just a few years earlier: third-party app marketplaces are now permitted on iOS in the EU, alternative payment systems are allowed, and developers can distribute apps outside the App Store entirely.
For UK builders targeting European markets, the practical picture is more nuanced than the headlines suggested.
The most important thing to know first: the vast majority of iOS users in Europe are still downloading apps from the App Store. Alternative marketplaces exist — Epic Games Store, AltStore PAL, and a handful of others have launched — but adoption has been slow. Users are habituated to the App Store and there’s no compelling reason for most of them to change. If you’re building a consumer app, you’re still primarily building for the App Store.
What has changed is the negotiating position around commission. Apple’s standard 30% (15% for small developers) remains for App Store sales, but developers in the EU can now use alternative payment processors and direct sales for users on iOS 17.4 and above. Apple has introduced a “Core Technology Fee” of €0.50 per install per year for apps exceeding one million installs in the EU — a structure that drew significant criticism and is likely to evolve further under regulatory pressure.
For most apps — especially B2B tools, enterprise software, and apps below the million- install threshold — these changes are worth knowing about but won’t materially change your go-to-market approach. The App Store remains the distribution channel that reaches your users.
Where it becomes more relevant is for high-volume consumer apps and games, where the commission economics start to matter at scale, and for apps in categories like dating, utilities, and reading apps where Apple’s historical payment restrictions have been most contentious.
The UK sits outside the DMA’s direct scope post-Brexit, so these changes don’t automatically apply to UK App Store accounts. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is running its own investigation into Apple’s mobile ecosystem under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act — but any resulting obligations are likely to follow the EU’s direction rather than diverge from it significantly.
If you’re building something where distribution and commission economics matter, it’s worth keeping an eye on how this develops. For most projects, the App Store is still the answer. See our iOS & Android page for how we approach app store distribution as part of a build.