App Store DMA Changes: What EU Developers Do Now

Apple says its fee reductions in Europe haven’t lowered consumer prices. The European Commission is still evaluating compliance. And teams are trying to decide whether to stick with in‑app purchases or steer users to the web. If you build or run mobile products in the EU, these App Store DMA changes are not a spectator sport—they directly shape your margins, your funnel, and how you communicate with customers.

What changed—and when

On April 23, 2025, the European Commission fined Apple for violating the Digital Markets Act’s anti‑steering rules and ordered changes. Apple rolled out revised EU terms and fee tiers in late June 2025, allowing more prominent links to external payments and new fee structures for developers who sell off‑store. On November 12, 2025, Apple cited a commissioned study claiming most developers didn’t pass reduced fees on to users. Regardless of Apple’s position, the legal and commercial reality is that you have new levers: external linking, alternative payments, and multiple distribution paths.

How App Store DMA changes reshape your fee math

The headline numbers many teams model against look like this: a top‑line platform fee around 20% on EU App Store transactions (with a small‑business tier around 13%), and a separate range when you link out to complete payment off‑store that sits below the full App Store rate. Your all‑in cost for off‑store payments depends on card/PSP pricing, fraud tooling, chargeback loss, and the platform’s external‑payment fee. The DMA didn’t erase costs—it gave you knobs to tune. Treat this as a contribution margin exercise, not a dogma about “store bad, web good.”

Here’s the thing: the right answer varies by price point and churn profile. A €2.99 impulse add‑on may still convert better (and net more) with native IAP. A €199 annual plan with a trial and heavy lifecycle email may pay for itself the moment you move renewal handling to the web. Model both paths with real take‑rates, refunds, and your PSP’s SCA decline rates. Then test.

A 30‑day decision playbook (so you can ship without drama)

Use this fast but thorough approach to avoid rewriting your stack twice.

Week 1: Inventory and intent

Map every EU storefront SKU to a web equivalent, including currency, tax handling, and renewal rules. Identify your north‑star objective for each SKU: net revenue, paid conversion, retention, or cash flow. If you target SMBs, decide whether procurement prefers invoices and bank transfers—those drive you toward web checkout regardless of App Store terms.

Week 2: Funnel and fee scenarios

Build three scenarios—Native, Hybrid, and Web‑First—per product line.

• Native: keep IAP; optimize price endings, paywall copy, and trials.
• Hybrid: purchase on web, manage entitlements cross‑platform; show in‑app upgrade with a link out.
• Web‑First: sell and renew off‑store; keep the app as the activation surface.

For each, calculate net revenue on a €9.99 monthly and a €99 annual plan. Include your PSP’s blended fee, fraud tools, 3‑D Secure friction, and the platform’s external‑payment fee. Don’t forget support costs: refunds and chargebacks off‑store are yours to own.

Week 3: Implementation plan

Pick one SKU to pilot and one control group that remains native. Implement signed entitlements and a reconciliation job that runs hourly. Add a retry pipeline for billing events, and a “lost entitlement” safety net inside the app that prompts a restore or support ticket instead of throwing the user out of a paid experience. Ship feature‑flagged. Measure cohort outcomes for at least two billing cycles.

Week 4: Messaging and compliance

Update your app copy to clearly explain where purchases happen and where to manage billing. Make sure external links are obvious, accurate, and compliant with current EU rules. Split test the language: in some categories, “Secure checkout on our site” beats “Continue on the web.”

Will the DMA let me drop in‑app purchases entirely?

You can distribute an EU build that steers customers to the web for purchase, but dropping IAP blindly can backfire. For impulse purchases and lower‑priced one‑time unlocks, the native flow still converts. For higher ARPU subscriptions, particularly B2B‑leaning apps, web checkout plus an entitlement bridge often wins. The practical path is a hybrid lineup: one or two low‑friction IAP SKUs for instant gratification, with your core plans sold off‑store.

Can I charge less on the web than in‑app?

Yes, you can run differentiated pricing and promotions off‑store. The strategy that usually works: keep in‑app price points clean and round; offer annual or multi‑seat bundles on the web with a distinct anchor (“Teams plan—invoice & SSO”). Highlight benefits rather than “avoiding fees.” Customers don’t care about your PSP rate; they care about value and trust.

What about alternative app stores or marketplaces?

DMA‑driven changes allow alternate distribution paths in the EU. That’s real optionality, but it’s not free. You’ll manage more binaries, more policies, and more QA. If your audience is broad consumer and performance marketing is a strength, a second store might make sense. If you sell to businesses or run a restrained brand, concentrate on the main App Store plus web checkout first.

Pricing framework: S.P.L.I.T.

Use this quick framework to design your EU pricing and channel mix:

• Segment: split customers by use case (solo, team, enterprise) and price sensitivity.
• Position: articulate clear benefits per channel (IAP = instant access; Web = invoices, admin tools, better bundles).
• Localize: set EUR/SEK/DKK price endings that feel native; align VAT inclusive pricing.
• Incentivize: offer web‑only annual perks (extra months, seat management) without confusing the in‑app value prop.
• Track: instrument cohort‑level LTV, refund rates, SCA failures, and paywall click‑through by channel.

Compliance and UX guardrails you shouldn’t skip

Make external links obvious and reliable, and ensure disclosures match the purchase experience. Keep receipts consistent: if the user pays on the web, the app’s “Manage Subscription” button should open your billing portal with one click—no dead ends. Implement strong entitlement checks but bias toward continuity of service; show a short grace period with clear guidance before you restrict access. And yes, document the flows. Regulators look for clarity; customers reward it.

Data points that matter right now

Three dates anchor this shift: April 23, 2025 (the EU fine), late June 2025 (Apple’s updated EU terms with new fees and linking policies), and November 12, 2025 (Apple’s public claim that lower platform fees didn’t lower user prices). The European Commission is collecting feedback and can keep tightening screws if practices still impede competition. Plan for iterative policy tweaks in 2026, not a one‑and‑done settlement.

Engineering checklist: hybrid billing done right

• Single source of truth: create a billing service that normalizes Apple IAP and web payments into one entitlement graph.
• Signed receipts: validate StoreKit receipts server‑side; for web, sign JWT entitlements with short TTL and rotate keys.
• Renewal webhooks: build idempotent handlers for web renewals, payment failures, and refunds; backfill to the app promptly.
• Grace windows: introduce a 48–72 hour grace period on entitlement loss to avoid punishing legit users during SCA hiccups.
• Experiment flags: gate paywall variants and external link language behind flags you can roll back without a resubmission.
• Observability: dashboard SCA failure rates by country and issuer; alert when external link CTR dips (broken copy or friction).

Security and fraud reality check

Moving revenue to the web shifts risk onto your team. Expect card testing, refund abuse, and chargebacks. Use AVS, velocity limits, device fingerprinting, and issuer‑network‑native tools like 3‑D Secure. Budget 0.1%–0.3% loss as a baseline in consumer verticals until your fraud models mature. If your audience skews enterprise, lean on invoices and bank transfers to pull risk down and improve acceptance.

What if Brussels tightens enforcement again?

Zooming out, the direction of travel is clear: more steering freedom for developers, and more scrutiny of policies that blunt that freedom. Build a flexible commercial engine rather than baking in a single path. If enforcement widens or fees shift again, you’ll change config—not re‑architect checkout.

People also ask

Do I need different EU builds?

Most teams ship a single binary with region‑aware paywalls and links. If your brand voice or promotion rules differ by market, drive that with remote config and feature flags, not forks.

Can I migrate existing subscribers off‑store?

Technically yes, practically risky. Apple’s native subscription management is familiar to users and handles family sharing, refunds, and renewals. If you attempt a migration, do it at renewal with opt‑in, clear incentives, and white‑glove support for failed payments.

Will this help my SEO?

If you add real web checkout and account portals, you’ll likely expand web content and support docs—those can help discovery. Don’t chase search volume with thin pages. Build useful landing pages and compare plans honestly.

Leadership scoreboard: what to measure

If you’re the GM or CFO, set targets now: net revenue per install by channel, refund rate deltas, support ticket volume per 1,000 transactions, and days cash on hand impact from switching renewals to web. Review weekly for the pilot and monthly after rollout. If the hybrid plan beats native by 5–8% net on annual plans and support volume is flat, scale it. If not, revert. Optionality is the win.

Need a second set of hands?

If you want an outside team to build the entitlement bridge, tune paywalls, or run the pricing experiments, our team does this work end‑to‑end—from architecture to copy tests. See what we do for growth‑minded app teams, explore our portfolio, or scope a project via our services page. If you’re price‑sensitive but deadline‑driven, start with a fixed‑fee discovery sprint; details on pricing and timelines are transparent.

What to do next (this week)

• Choose a pilot SKU and declare a 30‑day success metric (net revenue or conversion).
• Implement signed entitlements and a reconciliation job; deploy behind a flag.
• Ship two paywall variants: native IAP vs link‑to‑web. Measure CTR, conversion, refunds.
• Schedule a legal/compliance review of link language and receipts for EU stores.
• Plan customer support macros for “where do I manage my subscription?”

Policy shifts don’t pick winners; execution does. Treat the DMA era as a chance to own more of your customer relationship while keeping native flows where they shine. Build the hybrid rails now, and you won’t be rushing the next time terms or fees adjust.

If you’re juggling multiple platform changes—tokens, CI, and compliance deadlines—we’ve published practical cutover guides for developers too. For example, see our take on GitHub Actions pull_request_target changes and our deadline‑driven npm token migration checklist. Different topic, same playbook: get the facts, ship the guardrails, measure, iterate.