Apple ordered to allow third-party app stores in Australia from 2027

Apple has been asked to allow competing app stores, direct app downloads and alternative payment services for users in Australia from March 1, 2027, following a Federal Court ruling. The court's orders follow its August 2025 finding that Apple misused its market power by limiting how users could download apps and make payments. The rules will apply to users whose Apple Account region is set to Australia, while developers enrolled in the Apple Developer Program worldwide can take part.Under the ruling, Apple must allow users to find, download, install and update apps through rival marketplaces and websites. It cannot charge users for accessing these options or create unnecessary barriers to their use.Developers must also receive the tools needed to distribute apps outside Apple's App Store on substantially the same terms as those for App Store distribution. Apple cannot penalise developers for using competing app stores or payment services.The ruling will also allow developers to offer alternative payment methods and link users to other ways to pay, including within apps distributed through the App Store. Apple cannot force developers to offer its own payment system alongside alternatives or require them to report or allow audits of transactions made through other services.Developers will also be able to offer lower prices through competing payment services without Apple blocking them.The court has placed limits on the fees Apple can charge. Apple cannot collect fees on purchases made through alternative payment services or on websites linked from apps distributed outside the App Store. For apps distributed through its own store, fees will be capped at the rate charged for payments for physical goods or services, plus any genuine and reasonable additional costs linked to digital purchases.Apple also cannot require developers to use its payment system for content bought elsewhere as a condition for allowing alternative app distribution.However, security checks will remain in place. Apps downloaded outside the App Store must undergo an automated security or privacy scan and receive notarisation from Apple or a qualified third party. Apple cannot introduce disproportionate installation barriers, and any additional security requirements for competing payment services must be necessary and proportionate.Apple will be allowed to remove or disable apps installed from outside the App Store only in specific cases, such as harmful content, genuine security risks or legal requirements. It will not have to distribute rival app stores through its own store, but it cannot ban third-party apps or alternative app stores from being preinstalled on iPhones.Apple told Reuters that it plans to appeal the ruling and ask the court to pause its enforcement, citing its intellectual property rights and App Store security.The changes will take effect at noon Melbourne time on March 1, 2027. Apple can apply to the court between February 1 and February 15, with supporting evidence, for an extension until May 3, 2027.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.