On Wednesday, according to the Tech Bulletin, Apple updated its developer license agreement to include language that allows the company to recoup unpaid amounts — including commissions or other fees it has not been paid — in a variety of ways, including withholding purchases processed on developers’ behalf from customers.
Developers in geographies where local law permits such systems will be affected by the changes. In such cases, developers are supposed to report those payments to Apple so that it can collect the necessary commissions or fees.
The amended agreement appears to provide Apple with an avenue to recover the fee it believes is owed if the company finds a developer underreported the amount they should have shared.
There was no immediate unambiguous explanation from Apple for why it was making the change in Japan while maintaining its current system elsewhere. However, some developers said they believed it would also involve local law and legal challenges. (Here in the United States, the legitimacy of these commissions is still being challenged.
A federal appeals court ruled earlier this month that a district court should consider requiring Apple to be able to collect some commission, though not the full 27% fee it had previously imposed.)
Under a new developer agreement, Apple says it will “offset or recoup” what it believes it is owed, including “any amounts collected by Apple on your behalf from end-users.” This would mean Apple could recover money from developers’ in-app purchases — whether for digital goods, services, and subscriptions, or for one-time fees for paid apps.
What’s more, Apple reserves the right to “demand back payment” of this money — at any time and from time to time, no less — so if it thinks developers have underestimated what they owe, they might be in for a nasty surprise. The settlement does not articulate how Apple will verify that it is owed money.
The time-variant developer payments are few and consist solely of policyholder contributions (commissions, fees, and taxes). One of these is the Core Technology Fee (CTF) within the EU, which costs €0.50 for every first annual install over one million in the previous 12 months.
By January 2026, Apple will move from the CTF to a new fee, the Core Technology Commission (CTC), a more complex percentage-based charge. Apple is going to take CTC from apps that can use alternative payment methods and are available under the company’s alternative business models for the EU.
The revised developer agreement also allows Apple to recover unpaid amounts from any “affiliates, parent companies or subsidiaries” associated with the account with a payment due. In practical terms, this could mean Apple collects money from developers’ other apps—or from apps published by a parent company.
These amendments are set out in Schedules 2 and 3, section 3.4, which deals with the delivery of applications to end users.
These are not the only changes to the deal. Apple is also adding sections that detail its age-rating system, new terms for iOS apps in Japan, and other requirements.
Apple has the industry talking once again, as it is setting requirements for voice-activated assistants (e.g., AI chatbots) that are activated by pressing on the side button of an iPhone, all while banning recordings made without a user’s knowledge. It includes audio and video recordings, as well as screenshots of what the person was doing in an app, which developers use to understand how people are using their apps or to debug issues.
To be clear, Apple isn’t outlawing these recordings. The company is only adding the following language: “Your Application may not be provided as a stand-alone application or as embedded in another app, and may not facilitate the ability of users to record others without their knowledge.” How Apple will apply that rule is unclear. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment before publication.
