IT House reported on May 2 that after 10 fines, the Dutch Consumer and Market Authority (ACM) is preparing to issue a new round of fines to Apple, saying that Apple has not adjusted enough policies related to the App Store and dating apps.
IT House learned that on March 30, Apple was fined 5 million euros by the Dutch antitrust agency, accumulating 50 million euros, and then Apple began accepting requests from reader app developers, allowing users to register and manage their accounts outside the App Store using external links. At the same time, Apple has also changed its policy on the Dutch dating app .
In January, Apple said it would, for the first time ever, allow apps to bypass App Store payments and introduce external payment options. Apple typically requires developers to use the company's own payment system, which helps it charge commissions on apps on its platform.
Apple said in January that it would comply with the Dutch Consumer and Market Supervision Bureau ruling allowing users to use two other payment methods besides Apple's system when downloading dating apps on the Apple Store online. But both payment methods only work for dating apps, and Apple still deducts commissions from them.
Journalist @Nando Kasteleijn shared an update on the Apple case on his Twitter post, and ACM said it would take weeks to decide what action it would take next.
The Dutch Consumer and Market Authority determined that the changes Apple made on March 30 were not enough. In the Netherlands, Apple still uses unreasonable conditions against dating app providers. This can be seen in their own research, expert advice and consultations with all parties in the market.
In addition, the Dutch regulator also noted that it "does see improvements in the recommendations made by Apple, but these recommendations are not enough to comply with European and Dutch regulations." ”
For the 10 weeks from January to March, Apple was fined 5 million euros a week, but ACM believes that "the fine did not have the desired effect", so ACM is preparing a new plan, which may take several weeks until the official announcement is issued.
status quo
Apple has made policy changes to dating apps under regulatory mandates, and Dutch developers can now:
1) Continue to use Apple's in-app purchase system, 2) use a third-party payment system within the app, and 3) add an external link within the app to direct the user to the developer's website to complete the purchase.
These changes also include:
Remove the requirement for separate binary codes: Apple has removed the requirement that Dutch dating app developers must create and use separate binary codes when choosing to use partial permissions.
Payment Provider Standards: Apple will provide updated and more specific criteria to evaluate non-Apple Payment service providers that May be used by Dutch dating app developers.
Consumer Disclosure: Applications using both of these authorizations need to include a modal backplane that explains to the user that they are making purchases through an external payment system and the potential impact this way may have on the user.