Epic Games, Spotify, Many Others Formally Complain to EU About Apple’s Lack of DMA Compliance

Epic Games, Proton, Spotify, and over 30 other companies have formally complained to the European Commission that Apple is not complying with the terms of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

“We are very concerned that Apple’s proposed scheme for compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), as communicated on 25 January 2024, will not meet the law’s requirements therefore inhibiting our ability to deliver the benefits of the DMA to consumers as soon as possible,” a letter published to Spotify’s website reads. “Apple’s new terms not only disregard both the spirit and letter of the law, but if left unchanged, make a mockery of the DMA and the considerable efforts by the European Commission and EU institutions to make digital markets competitive.”

The companies then outline the “most obvious and egregious” examples of Apple not complying with the DMA:

A false choice between the old terms and onerous new terms. Apple will allow developers to simply continue forward using its existing App Store terms–which the companies correctly define as “manifestly not compliant with the DMA”–or they adopt new terms that were designed to be even more horrible and no less expensive to them or their customers. “This is a false choice and merely adds unnecessary complexity and confusion,” the letter explains. “Neither option is DMA compliant and both options would simply consolidate Apple’s stronghold over digital markets.”

The new fee structure manages to benefit Apple as much as the arbitrary old fee structure. As part of its new App Store terms, Apple somehow managed to duplicate the onerous fees it charges under the current plan—typically 30 or 15 percent on all in-app purchases, compared to the 3-5 percent that credit card companies charge—by creating “a hefty transaction fee and a Core Technology Fee (CTF)” for the new terms that are just as expensive. This will “maintain and even amplify Apple’s exploitation of its dominance over app developers,” the companies note, and “hamper fair competition with potential alternative payment providers.”

Apple falsely claims that DMA compliance introduces security and privacy concerns. “This is masquerading unfounded privacy and security concerns to the detriment of user choice,” the companies correctly note. “Apple’s approach – such as the introduction of ‘“’scare screens’ – will merely mislead and degrade the user experience, depriving them of real choice and the benefits of the DMA.” Worse, the security and privacy functionality that Apple provides comes from its OS and app platforms, not from the App Store. There is no reason to believe that apps delivered by third-party app stores or sideloaded from the web will in any way be less private or secure. That’s the benefit of Apple’s platforms.

Apple’s scheme bypasses the real aim of the DMA, which is to restore competition by introducing choices. Apple’s new App Store terms are designed to thwart the DMA, which seeks to prevent Big Tech gatekeepers like Apple from engaging in behavior that abuses partners, developers, and end users. In this market, those choices will come from alternative app stores and in-app payment systems, which Apple makes untenable via its new terms, and app sideloading, which Apple expressly forbids with its new terms. “Rather than creating healthy competition and new choices, Apple’s new terms will erect new barriers and reinforce Apple’s stronghold over the iPhone ecosystem,” the letter explains.

“We urge the European Commission to take swift, timely and decisive action against Apple, to protect developers and benefit consumers and do so as soon as the DMA obligations apply,” the letter concludes. “This is the only way to guarantee the DMA remains both credible and delivers competitive digital markets.”

The letter’s signatories include Adevinta, Beonex, Blockchain.com, Cafeyn, Deezer, Epic Games, iconomy, Mustang, Paddle, Parula, Proton, Schibsted, 37signals, SkyDemon, Spotify, Threema, Uptodown, Vipps MobilePay and 16 other EU associations.

In related news, Apple also backed off a related plan to drop support for web apps on its devices’ home screens because the DMA is forcing them to allow rival web browser rendering engines. As with its App Store terms changes, the firm had argued that there were security and privacy concerns, and that “low usage” of this feature—which is needlessly handicapped to keep users funneled through native apps that it can charge fees against–made it hard to justify any additional work. However, in keeping this feature, Apple will not allow rival browsers that use their own rendering engines to create web apps. Which is almost certainly another example of DMA non-compliance.