Apple Reportedly Set to Propose Easier Access to Offers Outside App Store

Apple is reportedly set to propose making it easier for third-party developers to send customers outside of its App Store to make software purchases in order to avoid additional penalties being imposed by European Union regulators.

The company’s proposal is due Thursday (June 26), Bloomberg reported Wednesday (June 25).

EU regulators ruled in April that Apple violated the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and imposed a fine of 500 million euros (about $583 million), according to the report. Apple has said it plans to appeal the penalty.

It was reported Monday that Apple was in eleventh-hour negotiations with European regulators about changes to its App Store in hopes of escaping a series of escalating fines from the EU set to go into force this week.

That report said Apple was expected to offer concessions on its “steering” provisions that prevent users from accessing offers outside the App Store.

The European Commission, which regulates the DMA, had ordered Apple to revise its rules within two months of the April fine or risk facing fines that could reach up to 5% of its average daily global revenue.

When announcing the fine in April, the commission said Apple breached the DMA’s anti-steering obligation by imposing restrictions that prevent app developers from informing consumers about offers that are available outside the company’s App Store.

Together with the fine, the commission ordered Apple to remove those restrictions.

Apple said at the time: “Today’s announcements are yet another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple in a series of decisions that are bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free.”

In May, the commission threatened additional ongoing, periodic penalties if Apple did not act quickly to remedy its failure to fully comply with the DMA.

It was reported at the time that Apple had taken steps to loosen restrictions on non-Apple payment systems in the App Store and on in-app purchases, but that the commission found those steps to be insufficient.