Apple becomes a debt collector with its new manufacturing contract

Apple Wednesday release and modified developer license agreement which authorizes the company to recover unpaid fees, such as commissions or any other fees, by deducting from in-app purchases that it processes on behalf of developers, in other ways.

The change will affect developers in regions where local laws allow them to connect to foreign payment systems. In this case, developers must report the payment to Apple in order to pay the necessary commissions or fees.

The revised agreement appears to give Apple a way to collect what it believes to be fair compensation if the company finds that the developer has underreported its earnings.

Apple’s policies in this area are complicated, but the change will affect manufacturers in markets such as the EU, the US, and, now, Japanwhile manufacturers using foreign payment methods may be required to pay Apple different fees or commissions depending on local laws. (In the US, the legitimacy of these commissions would still be debated. A federal appeals court earlier this month decided that the district court should consider allowing Apple to collect services, although not all of the 27% that it paid in the past.)

In his own new software partnershipApple says it will “return or reimburse” what it believes it owes, including “any money Apple has collected on your behalf from users.” This means Apple can recoup money from in-app purchases — such as digital purchases, services, and subscriptions — or from one-time fees for payments.

Additionally, Apple says it reserves the right to collect these fees “at any time” and “from time to time,” meaning developers could face sudden termination if Apple believes they’ve miscalculated their content.

The agreement did not specify how Apple would determine whether it owed money.

The types of software fees that vary over time are limited and include commissions, fees, and taxes. Among these is the Core Technology Fee (CTF) in the EU, which currently costs €0.50 per year for each initial transaction over one million in the previous 12 months. In January 2026, Apple will do it change from CTF to new feecalled Core Technology Commission (CTC), a fixed percentage fee. Apple will collect CTC from apps that use external payment methods or are distributed according to other EU businesses.

The revised agreement also gives Apple the right to collect unpaid fees from any “subsidiaries, parents, or agents” related to the account owed. In theory, this means that Apple can collect the money from other software developers, or from software published by the parent company.

These changes are detailed in Schedules 2 and 3, section 3.4, which focus on providing software to end users.

These are not the only changes to the agreement. Apple too to initiate sections related to age verification technology, new terms for iOS apps in Japan, and other requirements.

Interestingly, Apple describes the requirements for voice-based assistants (such as AI chatbots) that are activated via the side button on the iPhone and prohibits recordings made without the user’s knowledge. This includes audio and video recorders, as well as computer recorders, which are often used by developers to identify problems that users encounter when running programs or finding errors.

To be honest, Apple does not block these recordings. The company is just adding language that says: “Your apps may not be designed to capture images without their knowledge.” How Apple will interpret the law remains to be seen.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment before publication.