Apple Confirms iPadOS Will Get Same EU App Changes as iOS This Fall - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Confirms iPadOS Will Get Same EU App Changes as iOS This Fall

Apple today confirmed that it will be bringing all of the app ecosystem changes made to iOS in the European Union to iPadOS in the fall. Earlier this week, the European Commission said that iPadOS is also a gatekeeper platform under the Digital Markets Act.

ipad pro new blue
EU developers will be able to distribute iPad apps outside of the App Store using alternative app marketplaces or websites, and all of the same terms will apply. The Core Technology Fee will be charged for apps that are distributed outside of the ‌App Store‌ and have more than one million first annual installs, though there are exceptions for small developers, which Apple also announced today.

With iPadOS being added to the mix, Apple has also confirmed that users who install the same app on both iOS and iPadOS in a 12-month period will only generate one first annual install for that app rather than two, which should help developers keep below the CTF threshold.

As with the changes to iOS, the upcoming changes to iPadOS only apply to developers who distribute apps in the European Union and ‌iPad‌ users in the EU. For the rest of the world, there are no changes and apps will continue to be available only from the ‌App Store‌.

Popular Stories

Apple AirPort Routers

Apple Dropping AirPort Utility From the App Store With iOS 27

Monday June 22, 2026 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple is planning to remove the AirPort Utility app from the App Store in the near future, according to the release notes for iOS 27 beta 2. The app is no longer fully supported in iOS 27, and Apple warns that it is not guaranteed to work. AirPort Utility will no longer be available for new downloads from the App Store. If you previously downloaded the app, you can still re-download it. When ...
iOS App Store General Feature Black

Apple Faces New App Store Complaint From Chinese Developers

Tuesday June 23, 2026 8:51 am PDT by
A group of 48 China-based iOS developers have filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the country's market regulator over the App Store's commission rates, the South China Morning Post reports. The developers sent an open letter to China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), alleging that Apple failed to deliver on a promise to offer the lowest commission rate to the...
Apple Acquires Award Winning App Play Feature

Apple Acquires Award-Winning App 'Play'

Monday June 29, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
In February, Apple notified the European Commission that it would be acquiring certain assets from and have the right to hire certain employees from Rabbit 3 Times, the company behind the award-winning app design tool Play. The notification was published on the European Commission's website this week, following a four-month waiting period. Play was a Mac and iPhone app that allowed designers ...

Top Rated Comments

29 months ago
Massive thank you to EU. iPad users should able to download apps where ever they see fit. Just like Mac users.
That core technology fee is the final obstacle that should be removed.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
User 6502 Avatar
29 months ago
Apple capitulated once again. Thank you EU for caring about your citizens ❤️🇪🇺
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
29 months ago
This is further evidence that Apple knows what they‘re doing, giving in this fast cause they know they‘re just buying time stalling DMA rollouts across platforms etc. to get their old business model going "just a little further".

Most of the other artificial roadblockers they have going will fall like domino blocks (little to no resistance from Applw) with the EU starting their nitpicking period.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
29 months ago
Once again, congratulations EU friends on soon getting to do with your iPads what you've already been able to do on your iPhones for nearly 2 months now... and what the rest of us have been able to do with our Macs for decades. It's so nice to get to do what you want with tech you OWN (after all, it's NOT borrowed tech).

While I live in the "land of the free," I envy your added freedoms when it comes to shopping around for best app pricing, best in-app payment options and sourcing apps from alt stores or direct from the developers who made the app... just like the rest of us can do with our Macs. The virtually-no-consequences of that exact same bundle of consumer freedoms have not destroyed all of us Mac owners. I expect the experience to be just about exactly the same with both your iPhones and soon your iPads too.

This thread should fill with rants & raving about how terrible this is, how EU people are doomed to viruses, trojans, plague, locusts, frogs, etc... but I would guess that almost all of the people who are griping about EU laws do NOT live within the EU and thus are completely unaffected by what other people's laws do or do not do for those other people.

I would also be quick to place a pretty sizable bet that if we could take a peek at the apps installed on many the fault-finders Macs, we'd find AT LEAST ONE- IF NOT MANY- that did NOT come from the Apple Mac App Store.

Nevertheless EU Apple friends, enjoy apps the rest of us can't even consider on the very same devices we also "own" because the almighty "Father" forbids it. Enjoy knowing that towards 100% of the purchase price is rewarding the developer of the app instead of another entity taking the first 15-30% right off the top. Etc. With Almighty Father the richest company in the world on any given day, they don't actually have to have a big bite of every single app transaction to survive. But I bet the developer who actually made the app you're buying will appreciate getting to make a bit more than before on the app THEY created... even if they sell it to you for less because they don't have to cover the steep, "first bite" overhead.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
29 months ago

My question is what are the caveats to installing non-Apple-app-store apps?

Is Apple putting a clause in the end-user license or something like that?

I'm genuinely curious as to how Apple is implementing this "circumvention" of their app store and how it'd impact the security (and support) of my device.
What caveat? It's not like the App Store is unblemished and Apple can make guarantees about it.

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/02/09/scam-apps-ios-making-millions-revenue/
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mailia Avatar
29 months ago

Chapinging your region won’t suffice - cause Apple is keeping close tabs on your location:

https://adamdemasi.com/2024/04/20/ios-eligibility.html
Has Apple explained somewhere how constantly tracking my location is in my interest again? Wasn't this supposed to be the privacy phone?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)