We covered Apple’s EU-mandated App Store changes back in June and concluded the App Store still dominates distribution for most apps. What’s changed since: the alternative marketplace model is no longer an EU-only carve-out. Japan went live with third-party app stores and alternative payment systems alongside iOS 26.2, with AltStore PAL among the first marketplaces available. Brazil is next, with changes taking effect for users on iOS 26.5, following a broader set of App Store rule changes Apple announced for the market.
The pattern worth noting
Each region gets its own version of Apple’s Core Technology Fee — a per-install charge on apps distributed outside the standard App Store — set at around 5% of revenue in both Japan and Brazil, alongside a mandatory notarization process so alternative-marketplace apps still meet baseline platform integrity checks. That’s a materially different structure from the EU’s flat per-install fee model, which means “how do alternative marketplaces work” is becoming a market-by-market question rather than one your development partner can answer once and reuse.
Why this still isn’t urgent for most builds
As with the EU changes, the practical takeaway for most apps hasn’t shifted: users are habituated to the App Store, and alternative marketplace adoption remains low even where it’s available. This matters most for high-volume consumer apps and games at scale, and for categories — dating, subscriptions, digital goods — where Apple’s payment restrictions have historically been most contentious. For most B2B tools, enterprise software, and apps below high install volumes, the App Store is still the whole story.
So what
The direction of travel matters more than any single region: regulators outside the EU are now using the DMA playbook as a starting template rather than treating Apple’s iOS model as untouchable. If your app targets multiple international markets or operates at volume, distribution and commission strategy is worth revisiting per-region rather than assuming EU rules are the only variant you’ll encounter. See our iOS & Android page for how we handle app store distribution as part of a build.