After Dutch antitrust order, Apple starts letting local dating apps use alternative payment options

Another regulatory brick in the wall for Apple: The iPhone maker agreed this weekend to changes to its App Store in the Netherlands focused on dating apps, agreeing to allow local developers of dating apps to be able to offer non-Apple based payments (via Reuters).In December, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) found Apple in breach of national competition rules — ordering it to adjust what it described as “unreasonable conditions” in the App Store that apply to dating app providers.Apple had been facing the threat of a financial penalty if it failed to make changes by the weekend.The tech giant went to court to seek an injunction against the order last month, including seeking to prevent the regulator from publishing its decision and applying for a temporary suspension of the order.However, in a December ruling, the court largely rejected Apple’s arguments — giving the company until January 15 to comply with the order to let dating app providers offer alternative payment options to their users.“The case concerns the conditions Apple imposes on dating app providers if they want to sell digital content in their apps (such as ‘superlikes’ and ‘boosts’). (Or, well, maybe not…)On its website the company further notes that “more information on all aspects of the entitlements will be available shortly”.Apple dropping App Store fees to 15% for small businesses with under $1 million in revenuesWhile this regulator-enforced change only applies to iOS developers in the Netherlands — and only to dating apps — it offers a taster of additional App Store rule changes that could follow as European regulators continue to dial up their attention on how Apple operates the store after years of complaints over its “tax” on in-app payments.A number of competition regulators in Asia have also targeted Apple over in-app payments — and, earlier this month in South Korea, Apple agreed to let local devs use third party payment options in their apps following a law banning payment mandates.Apple to allow third-party app payment options in South KoreaMeanwhile, over in the US, Apple has been appealing against an order following litigation by developers that it must allow devs to communicate with users about alternative payment methods available outside their iOS apps.In Europe, the App Store remains under close antitrust scrutiny across the region — with open investigations by the European Commission (which issued a formal charge focused on the music streaming market last April) and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), to name two.Germany’s Federal Cartel Office also begun its own Apple App Store probe this summer.A major mobile market study — looking at Apple and Google’s duopoly control of the ecosystem — by the UK’s CMA is also ongoing.