EU-style App Store rules reach Brazil with new marketplaces

Apple brings – Apple will bring alternative iPhone app marketplaces and new payment options to users in Brazil under an agreement with antitrust regulator CADE, with changes rolling out as part of iOS 26.5. Developers can start integrating immediately, but the new routes com

On the iPhone, the App Store has long been the gatekeeper. In Brazil, that gate is set to widen—under terms that look strikingly familiar to anyone who watched Apple rewrite parts of its platform for Europe.

Apple says it has reached an agreement with Brazil’s competition regulator, the Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica, known as CADE. The new rules extend App Store changes that were previously limited to the European Union, and they are scheduled to arrive as part of iOS 26.5.

Developers in Brazil will be able to distribute iPhone apps through marketplaces outside the App Store. Marketplace operators won’t just open their doors and start shipping apps; they must receive authorization from Apple and comply with ongoing requirements. Apple also requires apps distributed through alternative marketplaces to pass a notarization process—review that the company describes as combining automated checks with human oversight to identify malware and other known security threats.

Alongside the marketplace shift, Apple is also rewriting the commercial backbone for developers in Brazil. Under the new business model—Apple says it applies to App Store distribution. alternative payments. and app distribution outside the App Store—developers will face commission changes depending on how they sell digital goods and services.

Developers with iOS apps on the App Store in Brazil will pay a reduced commission of either 10% or 21% on sales of digital goods and services, depending on eligibility. Developers who continue using Apple In-App Purchase will pay an additional 5% payment processing fee.

Purchases completed through developer websites linked from apps come with a different take: Apple will charge a 15% Store Services Commission. with some developers qualifying for a reduced 10% rate. And for apps distributed outside the App Store. Apple says a 5% Core Technology Commission will apply to sales of digital goods and services.

Apple’s promise to developers is that those selling digital goods and services in Brazil will pay the same amount or less than they do today under the new business terms.

For payments, the changes are not just about permission—they’re about visibility. Apple will require alternative payment options to appear alongside its own payment system, and the company says this will help users distinguish between purchases processed by Apple and those handled by third parties.

The trade-off is support—and it is a stark one. Users who continue using Apple In-App Purchase will retain subscription management, refund requests, payment history, and fraud reporting tools. Purchases completed through alternative payment systems or external websites won’t receive the same support features.

Apple also says it will have less ability to assist customers who run into scams, fraud, or payment disputes involving third-party payment systems. Those users may also need to share payment information with additional companies.

Apple framed the update around protection and risk. Apps distributed outside the App Store don’t go through the same review process as App Store apps. and Apple argues that alternative distribution and payment systems can increase exposure to scams. fraud. malware. and objectionable content. The company pointed to pornography apps that became available after similar regulatory changes in Europe and Japan.

Children are a central part of Apple’s case in Brazil. Apps in the Kids category can’t use external payment links, and alternative payment systems must include parental gates for users under 18. Users under 18 also won’t be able to access web-based payment flows from App Store apps.

Apple says it is developing APIs that would allow parents to monitor and approve purchases completed outside Apple In-App Purchase.

The Brazilian approach mirrors Apple’s European framework in several ways. Alternative app marketplaces. app notarization. and external payment options already exist under Apple’s EU rules. and Brazil is the first major market outside Europe to receive a similar set of marketplace and payment changes.

Still, Apple draws a line between Brazil’s agreement and the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. CADE and Japan’s Mobile Software Competition Act. Apple says. allowed safeguards around parental controls. payment choices. and marketplace authorization to remain in place—protections Apple argued weren’t possible under the EU framework.

One example Apple gives is Brazil’s requirement that app distribution flow through authorized marketplace operators. Another is the decision to keep Apple In-App Purchase available alongside alternative payment systems—measures Apple says help address security and fraud risks associated with alternative app distribution and payments.

The U.S., Apple says, has taken a different approach. Litigation involving Epic Games focused largely on payment steering and restrictions on directing users to outside purchasing options. and the Justice Department’s antitrust case challenges broader questions about competition within the iPhone ecosystem. Neither effort has produced nationwide requirements for alternative app marketplaces.

For now, the deadline is the operating system. Developers can begin integrating the new capabilities immediately, and Apple says the changes will arrive as part of iOS 26.5—bringing Brazil a version of the App Store rebalancing that started in Europe, but tuned to CADE’s conditions.

Apple iOS 26.5 Brazil CADE app marketplaces alternative payments App Store notarization developer fees Apple In-App Purchase cybersecurity fraud protection child safety