Apple has agreed to open up iOS in Brazil to third-party app stores and expanded payment options as part of a settlement with Brazil’s antitrust regulator, CADE, forcing a major change to its tightly controlled App Store model. The agreement, reached in late December 2025, will require Apple to implement the changes within 105 days likely by early April 2026 giving Brazilian iPhone users unprecedented choice in how they install apps and make purchases on their devices.
The move follows a three-year antitrust investigation launched after a 2022 complaint from e-commerce platform MercadoLibre, which accused Apple of restricting competition by forbidding developers from distributing apps or offering alternate payment systems outside the company’s official App Store. CADE approved a Term of Commitment to Cease (TCC) proposed by Apple to resolve the case, under which the company must allow third-party app marketplaces and new ways for developers to sell digital goods and services
Under the new regime, developers in Brazil will be able to distribute apps via alternative app stores and offer external payment processors as options alongside Apple’s own in-app purchase system. Apple will also permit clickable links or buttons that direct users to external payment sites. While Apple will maintain its standard 10 % or 25 % commission on App Store purchases, it will apply a 15 % fee on external payment links and a 5 % “Core Technology” fee on transactions through third-party app stores.
Brazil’s competition authority will monitor Apple’s compliance which must be completed within the 105-day implementation period and the settlement remains in force for three years. If Apple fails to implement the required changes within the deadline, it could face fines of up to R$150 million (about $27 million).
Apple has expressed concerns that enabling alternative distribution and payment systems could introduce privacy and security risks, and said it would implement safeguards where possible. Nonetheless, compliance in Brazil represents a significant departure from Apple’s historically closed ecosystem and aligns the iPhone platform more closely with models already introduced under regulatory pressure in the European Union, Japan and South Korea.
The Brazilian changes mark one of the most substantial regulatory challenges to Apple’s App Store policies globally and set a precedent that may influence regulatory actions in other major markets in 2026 and beyond.
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