Not really in the EU? https://support.apple.com/en-us/118110
And distributing apps like that requires paying an annual per-install fee:
https://developer.apple.com/support/core-technology-fee/
So yes, IOS apps in the EU require both Apple review and a recurring per-install fee.
> The DMA requires that app developers should be able to inform customers of alternative purchasing options outside of the App Store, and direct customers to those alternative payment options, free of charge. Apple’s rules currently do not allow for this …
(plus: criminal contempt referrals for "willfully" violating court order to stop doing that in the US too and lying to the judge and trying to cover it up!)
> Separately, the commission has taken a preliminary view that Apple has not complied with its obligation to allow for the distribution of apps outside of the App Store, i.e. its support for third-party app marketplaces in the European Union is not good enough. The commission says developers are disincentivized from doing so due to the required agreement of alternative business terms, which includes the Core Technology Fee. It also says Apple has purposely made the process of using alternative app marketplaces too difficult and burdensome on end users.
https://9to5mac.com/2025/04/23/apple-fined-500-million-euros...
b) Apple is charging a fee for their SDKs similar to Unreal Engine, Square, Mapbox, Microsoft etc. Has been the standard in the industry since forever.
Apple is using all power-plays to keep their market controlled firmly by them, and EU doesn't like it.
Having to pay 99$ per year to develop apps for your own devices that you've already purchased is also outrageous.
I get that Apple is doing a good job keeping app-store safe for it's users, but it doesn't make up being so actively hostile to user freedom.
"sounds outrageous" is a pretty weak justification for regulator action. Paying for a browser probably sounds equally as outrageous, but with the way anti-trust is going with Chrome/Google, that seems like a very real possibility. Moreover, why should the government should be in the basis of regulating business models? If Apple wants to charge for access to its SDKs, and it pays the price through less apps for its users, so be it.
If Apple wants to be on the EU market they will have to comply with EU regulations, and if regulations are lacking regulators will regulate.
Whether you suck up to Apple or the EU is your opinion. I live in EU and I'm happy to see the otherwise sparsely regulated megacorporations from USA be regulated to not exploit my fellow union citizens.
Apple has also shown repeatedly that they're unwilling to comply by implementing their own shitty interpretation of our rules (ship a fucking USB-C adapter with your phone when we're demanding USB-C in the device, this markets act notarizaton and "core fee" bullshit).
I don't know if developers are still not allowed to advertise alternative payment methods, but it's just one step too far.
This is moving the goalposts. Both my comment and the comment you first replied to was making normative statements about government policy, not questioning whether they have the authority to make such laws.
"Pretty outrageous" is good enough for me, if Microsoft tried to start charging for access to Win32 it would not succeed in any way, legal or with customers (it would be abusing market power), but because Apple has a strong hold on their users already they're supposed to just fall over and be fucked by fees that completely ruin any kind of "not very monetizeable" app because of their made up business rules? Markets are regulated everywhere, why should Apple be treated differently because they started from a different position?
You can spare me the reply
Just last week, while looking for a password app, they had a "validator" app with in-app purchases using the old google authenticator logo in the #1 position. Worse it was an ad; someone saw all of that, both as an ad and as an app, and let it go.
Apple's prison actively cooperates with criminals to run scams on you that you cannot avoid.
On second thought, it sounds exactly like a real prison. On second thought, great analogy!
This is false. See https://support.apple.com/en-us/118110#:~:text=a%20combinati...
> It doesn't care about the content or type of app you're building.
But it does care about whether you've paid money to Apple for every install. https://developer.apple.com/support/core-technology-fee/