Apple opens Brazil iOS apps to alternative marketplaces and payments

Apple is opening a new crack in its App Store model in Brazil, where developers will be allowed to distribute iOS apps through alternative marketplaces and steer users to outside payment systems. The change puts one of Apple’s most important app ecosystems in Latin America under a different set of rules, and it adds momentum to a global push by regulators to loosen the company’s control over mobile software and in-app commerce.

The move follows a cease-and-desist agreement signed with Brazil’s antitrust watchdog, Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica, on Dec. 23, 2025. CADE said Apple must allow third-party offers and direct users to transactions outside the app, separate Apple’s payment processing from in-app transactions, and permit alternative app distribution channels. The agency said Apple would have 105 days to implement the changes once they became mandatory for developers, and that a full breach could bring a fine of up to 150 million reais, about $27 million.

Apple said on June 18, 2026 that the changes were now available to developers beginning with iOS 26.5. The company said alternative marketplaces would have to be authorized by Apple and that notarization would serve as a baseline review for all iOS apps in Brazil. Apple also said it would add child-safety safeguards and other guardrails, while warning that third-party stores and outside payments could raise the risk of malware, fraud, scams, and privacy problems.

The Brazilian case began with a 2022 complaint from MercadoLibre, the Uruguay-based e-commerce company, which argued that Apple restricted the distribution of digital goods and in-app purchases. CADE imposed preventive measures in 2024 before the case reached settlement, and its technical staff later recommended a ruling against Apple. MercadoLibre said in December that it recognized CADE’s efforts but that the deal only partly solved the need for more balanced rules.

The agreement is not open-ended. CADE said it will last three years from the point the new terms become mandatory for developers, giving Brazil a defined but significant window to reshape how Apple’s platform works in the country. That structure matters because it shows how national regulators are forcing concessions outside the United States and European Union, even as Apple tries to preserve core security controls.

The pressure is not coming only from regulators. After Apple’s June announcement, Epic Games and the Coalition for App Fairness criticized the Brazil terms, saying Apple was still imposing anti-competitive policies and a new burden on commerce outside the App Store. For Apple, Brazil is no longer just a local dispute. It is another sign that the walls around its global app business are getting easier to breach.