Apple on Thursday made its plans to let app developers distribute their products to EU consumers outside of Apple’s App Store.
The action is in response to the Digital Markets Act, a new EU law that mandates, among other things, that businesses with a market capitalization of 75 billion euros ($82 billion) or more and more than 45 million monthly active users make their apps compatible with competitors’ and allow users to select which apps to pre-install on their devices.
Developers will be able to provide substitute app stores for iPhones and choose not to use Apple’s in-app payment mechanism, which levies up to 30% in fees, starting in March.
Even if they choose not to utilize Apple’s payment services, large app developers will still be required to pay a “core technology fee” to Apple, and developers will still need to submit their apps to Apple for inspection for cybersecurity concerns and blatant fraud.
Developers may start modifying their business agreements using the tools that Apple published on Thursday; customers will be able to see these changes in March when the iOS operating system is updated.
