Apple changes developer fees (reducing them) and extends them to iPadOS

If Europe calls, Apple answers. Just a few days after the EU Commission's decision to include iPadOS in the list of gatekeepers subject to the new Digital Markets Act, the Cupertino-based company is introducing two new features for the European market, and one concerns the iPad itself. Apple has essentially announced that it will extend the basic technology fee recently introduced for iOS (i.e. iPhone) apps to iPadOS apps downloaded from its App Store. The Basic Technology Fee (CTF) was introduced by Apple a few weeks ago, and involves a fee of 50 cents per user account per year for major app developers even if they do not use any of its payment services or its App Store. For the first million subscribed accounts, there is an exemption of the fee.

The CTF is part of a series of new tariffs introduced by Apple, linked to changes to comply with the Digital Markets Act, which requires technology giants (and in this particular case Apple) to open up their ecosystems, allowing app developers to distribute their iPhone apps directly to consumers instead of through its App Store.

"This week, the European Commission designated iPadOS as a gatekeeper platform under the Digital Markets Act. Apple will bring the recent iOS changes for apps in the European Union to iPadOS by the end of autumn, as requested," Apple explained in an official blog post.

The company also updated some CF-related policies: small developers with less than EUR 10 million (USD 10.7 million) in annual global business revenue will pay no or limited commission for a period of three years.

On the other hand, 'not-for-profit' developers (such as students and developers who create a free app without any desire for monetisation) will not be charged any commission on the underlying technology.