Apple hit with its sixth $5.7m App Store fine as Dutch watchdog says nothing's changed

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple has been hit with another fine over its spat with a Dutch watchdog.
  • Apple has been told to allow dating apps to accept payments outside of the App Store.
  • Apple says it has complied although no apps can actually allow third-party payments yet.

Apple has today been hit with its sixth $5.7 million fine over its lack of compliance with a demand by a Dutch watchdog to allow some developers to offer third-party payments via the App Store.

In a story that's now been running for weeks, Apple has been hit by another weekly fine of 5 million euros after the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) in the Netherlands reported that it feels there has been no change in Apple's position — just hours after the iPhone maker sent a letter arguing that it has indeed complied with the ACM's demands.

While Apple has set about making it possible for developers of dating apps to offer third-party payments in the App Store, the ACM says that it isn't enough and continues to fine Apple while it waits for things to be rectified. Today's sixth fine means that Apple now owes enough to make a dent in its coffers.

While the ACM confirmed to Reuters that the letter had been received, it also said that it did not represent a change in Apple's position. Hence the new fine, presumably.

The whole showdown stems from Apple requiring 30% of all fees paid via the App Store, something the ACM has told the company some developers must be allowed to work around. That would mean that all dating apps in the Dutch App Store would be able to offer their own payment systems — although Apple says it still expects 27% of the fee for those transactions, too.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.