Apple has overhauled its European Union App Store terms by scrapping the Core Technology Fee and replacing it with a 5% Core Technology Commission on digital goods sold through apps distributed outside its App Store, with the changes taking effect on Oct. 1, 2026. The revised EU structure also sets commissions at 26% for App Store purchases using Apple’s payment system, 20% for App Store distribution with alternative payment processing, and 15% for apps using external purchase links, with lower rates for qualifying programs. The shift removes the most controversial part of Apple’s January 2024 DMA compliance model, a €0.50 per first annual install charge beyond one million, and relaxes eligibility rules for companies seeking to run alternative iOS marketplaces in the EU. The update sharpens the contrast with Apple’s position in the United States. In an Aug. 13 filing in Oakland, where US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is determining what Apple may charge for external-link purchases after finding the company in contempt in April 2025, Apple proposed tiered rates of 15% for standard developers, 10% for partner program participants and 5% for its Small Business Program. The side-by-side comparison leaves Apple defending a much higher US rate for broadly similar external transactions, even as the Ninth Circuit standard requires charges tied to costs Apple can justify. Apple kept a central control point in Europe by continuing to require Notarization for every iOS app distributed in the EU, whether through the App Store, an alternative marketplace or direct web download. The company and the European Commission said they worked closely on the revised framework, which also adds child-safety restrictions such as banning external purchase links in Kids category apps and requiring parental gates for minors when alternative payment processing or external purchase links are used. The Commission said it would actively monitor implementation, while Apple’s broader legal and regulatory fights continue in the US, UK, Brazil and Japan.