Apple will allow developers in Brazil to distribute iOS apps through alternative marketplaces and process payments outside its system, following an agreement with the country’s antitrust watchdog CADE.
These updates create new options for developers to distribute apps on alternative app marketplaces and to process app payments for digital goods and services outside of Apple In-App Purchase. Across these changes, Apple says it has worked to reduce the new privacy and security risks they create to provide users in Brazil the best and safest experience possible.
The new options for alternative app marketplaces and app payments open new avenues for malware, fraud, scams, and privacy and security risks.
Apple has worked with the Brazilian regulator to introduce protections from these new threats — including important safeguards for younger users. These protections include Notarisation for iOS apps, an authorisation process for app marketplaces, and requirements that help protect children from inappropriate content and scams.
New Options for Developers to Distribute Apps on iOS in Brazil
The App Store remains the best place for iOS users in Brazil to discover and download the apps they love. This includes App Store features that protect users against fraud and scams and empower parents to help ensure their kids have age-appropriate experiences.
Under the agreement with CADE, developers will also have the option to distribute iOS apps in Brazil using alternative app marketplaces other than the App Store. Alternative app marketplaces will have to be authorized by Apple and will need to meet ongoing requirements to serve developers and users.
However, apps downloaded outside the App Store will not benefit from the same protections Apple provides through App Review, creating new risks of apps that contain scams, fraud, and abuse, or that expose users to illicit, objectionable, or harmful content not allowed on the App Store.
To reduce some of these new risks, Apple will conduct a baseline review — called Notarisation — that applies to all iOS apps and focuses on basic functionality and protecting users from serious threats. This Notarisation process involves a combination of automated checks and human review, and helps ensure apps function as promised and are free of known malware, viruses, or other security threats.
However, Notarisation is less comprehensive than the App Review process that applies to all apps on the App Store.
To get your app notarized, select the alternative distribution option in App Store Connect when you submit it for review. Your app will be evaluated against the Notarization Review Guidelines, a subset of the App Review Guidelines. Notarization will check for:
- Accuracy. Apps must accurately represent the developer, capabilities, and costs to users.
- Functionality. Binaries must be reviewable, free of serious bugs or crashes, and compatible with the current version of iOS. They cannot manipulate software or hardware in ways that negatively impact the user experience.
- Safety. Apps cannot promote physical harm of the user or public.
- Security. Apps cannot enable distribution of malware or of suspicious or unwanted software. They cannot download executable code, read outside of the container, or direct users to lower the security on their system or device. Also, apps must provide transparency and allow user consent to enable any party to access the system or device, or reconfigure the system or other software.
- Privacy. Apps cannot collect or transmit private, sensitive data without a user’s knowledge or in a manner contrary to the stated purpose of the software.
Distributing on alternative app marketplaces
An alternative app marketplace is an app whose primary purpose is discovery and distribution of notarized iOS apps. To distribute your app on an alternative app marketplace in Brazil, you’ll use App Store Connect and the App Store Connect API to complete tasks, such as:
- Registering the alternative app marketplace and providing your Developer ID.
- Adding the marketplace token (provided to you by the marketplace).
- Selecting which of your apps are eligible for alternative distribution.
- Sending notifications to the marketplace when updates are available.
If you distribute your app on an alternative app marketplace:
- App Store functionality like Apple In-App Purchase is not available.
- The sale of digital goods or services from your app are subject to a Core Technology Commission (CTC).
New Options for Payments in App Store Apps on iOS
On the App Store, users in Brazil can continue to use Apple In-App Purchase to buy digital goods and services, manage subscriptions, request refunds, and view their payment history.
As part of the agreement with CADE, Apple is sharing tools that enable developers to offer more ways for users to purchase digital goods and services in apps on the App Store. For their iOS apps distributed on the App Store in Brazil, developers will be able to include an alternative payment processing method in their app and/or link users to a website to complete a transaction.
These alternative payment options will always be presented alongside Apple In-App Purchase, so that users in Brazil are clear on when they are transacting through Apple. When users choose to pay with Apple In-App Purchase, they’ll continue to receive familiar protections and tools like refund support, subscription management, and Report a Problem.
App Store users’ purchase history and subscription management will only reflect transactions made using Apple In-App Purchase.
For apps that use alternative payment processing or link users to the web for transactions, Apple will not be able to issue refunds and will have less ability to support customers encountering issues, scams, or fraud. Users may need to share their payment information with additional parties, which can introduce new privacy and security risks.
Updated Business Terms for iOS Apps in Brazil
To reflect these options for app distribution and payment processing, Apple is also sharing updated business terms for developers’ iOS apps in Brazil. These business terms reflect the many ways Apple creates value for developers’ apps, whether or not they use the App Store and/or Apple In-App Purchase.
Under the business terms for iOS apps in Brazil, Apple will continue to only charge a commission on the sale of digital goods and services. The new terms include:
- App Store commission: Developers with iOS apps on the App Store in Brazil will pay a reduced commission of either 10 percent for the vast majority of developers — including members of the Small Business Program, Video Partner Program, Mini Apps Partner Program, and for subscriptions following their first year — or 21 percent on transactions for digital goods and services. The App Store commission reflects the value of the tools, technology, and services that enable developers to create apps, in addition to App Store distribution, discovery, and ongoing services.
- Apple payment processing fee: In their iOS apps on the App Store, developers can process payments using Apple In-App Purchase for an additional 5 percent fee.
- Store services commission: Developers with iOS apps on the App Store in Brazil will pay a commission of 15 percent on transactions for digital goods and services made on a website linked to by the developer’s app. Developers in the programs mentioned above, and subscriptions following their first year, will pay a reduced rate of 10 percent.
- Core Technology Commission: iOS apps distributed outside of the App Store in Brazil will pay a 5 percent commission on the sale of digital goods and services, including paid apps. The Core Technology Commission compensates Apple for the tools, technologies, and services that enable developers to build and share their apps with iOS users.
Under these new business terms, developers that sell digital goods and services in Brazil will pay Apple the same or less than they do today. Developers that do not sell digital goods and services will continue not to pay Apple any commissions or fees.
Impacts to Kids’ Online Safety
Parents can expect that apps and games in the Kids category are age-appropriate, protect children’s data, and use parental gates to limit certain actions. For additional control, parents can enable Ask to Buy to approve purchases and turn off purchases via Screen Time.
With the changes introduced under the CADE agreement, the new options for alternative distribution and payment methods may expose children to new risks. For instance, apps downloaded from outside the App Store may include illicit and objectionable content, and they will not undergo the same rigorous review process Apple employs to evaluate apps made for children on the App Store.
Similar regulatory changes in Europe and Japan have enabled types of apps that were previously unavailable on iOS, including pornography apps.
In an effort to reduce new risks of fraud or scams targeting children, Apple has worked with regulators in Brazil to preserve some guardrails, including:
- Apps in the Kids category on the App Store will not include links to websites to complete transactions, to reduce the risk of fraud or scams targeting children.
- For users under 18 years old, all apps from the App Store that use alternative payment processing must include a parental gate that requires younger users to involve their parent or guardian before making a purchase.
- For users under 18 years old, apps from the App Store cannot link to websites for transactions to protect against the risk of scams that target kids.
- Apple is also working to provide developers using alternative payments with a new API so they can enable parents to monitor and approve purchases made outside of Apple In-App Purchase.
Developers must also continue to provide age ratings for their apps, whether their app is distributed on the App Store or an alternative app marketplace.
Apple will continue innovating to meet the evolving risks to kids’ safety online by building on the powerful tools and features it makes available today — like child accounts, web content filters, app restrictions, monitoring tools like Screen Time and Family Sharing, Communication Safety, and Communication Limits — that help parents shape who their children communicate with and shield them from inappropriate content.
