How Publishers can avoid Apple's 30% App Commission
Publishers
Following a 2025 court ruling in the long-running Epic v. Apple case, US App Store rules now allow developers to direct users to external payment pages — bypassing Apple's in-app purchase system and the commission that comes with it. For publishers selling ebooks and audiobooks, this is a meaningful commercial opportunity.
This article summarises what the change means, why it is particularly relevant to publisher apps, and how we recommend implementing it in a single, region-aware app.
⚠️ A fast-moving area. As of April 2026, the US case continues to move through the courts. The current "no commission" position may be modified. Our recommended approach is designed to absorb that change without rework.
What changed, and when
Historically, all digital purchases inside iOS apps had to go through Apple's in-app purchase (IAP) system, with Apple taking a commission of 15–30%. External payment links were prohibited.
Three milestones have shifted that picture in the United States:
30 April 2025 — US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple had wilfully violated a 2021 anti-steering injunction. The court ordered Apple to allow developers to include external payment links and buttons, with no commission.
1 May 2025 — Apple updated its App Store Review Guidelines to comply, specifically for apps distributed via the US storefront.
11 December 2025 — The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the contempt finding but modified the remedy: Apple is entitled to charge a "reasonable commission" on external purchases, lower than the 27% it had originally imposed. The exact rate is still being decided. Apple has indicated it will pursue a Supreme Court appeal.
In practice today, US apps may include external payment links with no Apple commission. That position is the operating reality for the foreseeable future, but a future commission of some amount should be planned for.
Why this matters for publisher apps
Apps that primarily provide access to previously purchased content — ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, music, video — are categorised by Apple as "reader" apps. Reader apps are the most flexible category under Apple's current rules.
For publisher apps in the US, this means:
External payment links are explicitly permitted, with no Apple commission applied (today).
Reader apps are the only category that has, in some cases, shipped without Apple IAP at all in the US — meaning external payment can be the sole purchase route, if the publisher chooses.
Most publishers will still want to offer Apple IAP alongside external checkout, because it gives users a familiar one-tap path on iOS and reduces any risk during App Store review.
ℹ️ For most publisher apps, we recommend offering both Apple IAP and external checkout to US users side by side. This is the safest position commercially and from an App Review standpoint, gives users a familiar one-tap path on iOS, and preserves margin on the purchases that matter most.
The commercial opportunity
Margin
Every purchase routed through external checkout avoids Apple's 15–30% commission. Net of payment processing (typically 3–5%), the publisher keeps materially more of each sale.
Pricing flexibility
External checkout removes Apple's fixed price tiers. The publisher can run promotions, bundles, multi-buy offers, and subscription tiers that mirror those on the web — without being constrained by Apple's pricing structure.
Customer ownership
Apple does not share customer data from IAP purchases. External checkout means the publisher captures the email address, purchase history, and consent record directly — feeding into CRM, marketing automation, and lifetime-value analysis.
Leveraging existing commerce infrastructure
Most publishers already have a working commerce and subscription platform — Shopify, WooCommerce, a dedicated subscription system, or a bespoke checkout. External checkout extends that platform to mobile app users, rather than introducing a parallel payment stack. The same pricing, the same promotions, the same accounts, and the same subscriptions, across mobile and web. App users get the experience the publisher has already built, instead of being forced through an Apple-managed billing relationship that sits separately from everything else.
Strategic control
The publisher owns the conversion funnel end-to-end. Pricing experiments, upsell flows, abandoned-cart recovery, gifting, and subscription management can all be iterated on without waiting for App Store review of new IAP products.
Recommended approach
One app, region-aware behaviour. A single iOS app, distributed globally through the App Store, that detects which storefront the user is on and presents the appropriate purchase options:
US storefront: Apple IAP and external web checkout, both available.
Other storefronts: Apple IAP only (with regional variations as the law evolves elsewhere).
This is preferable to maintaining separate apps or separate App Store listings, which would fragment reviews, ratings, marketing, and the customer base.
In most cases, the external checkout is the publisher's existing web checkout, branded as it always has been. The point of the change is not to introduce a new payment stack — it is to unify mobile and web commerce around the platform the publisher already operates.
What this does not change
Outside the US, Apple's standard IAP rules still apply. The European Union operates under the Digital Markets Act, with its own (more restrictive) framework — not a copy of the US position.
App Store review still applies. The external checkout flow must be clear, honest, and non-deceptive.
Tax, refunds, chargebacks, and customer support for external purchases become the publisher's responsibility — these are no longer handled by Apple.
Apple may, in due course, be permitted to charge a reasonable commission on external purchases. Any business case should be modelled with that contingency in mind.
Risks and considerations
Operational complexity
Running two payment paths in parallel is more complex than running one. It requires a unified entitlement layer so that, regardless of how a user paid, the app grants access correctly.
Compliance responsibility
Sales tax (US state-by-state, plus international VAT/GST), refund handling, and dispute management move from Apple's remit to the publisher's. Most established commerce platforms already handle these functions for the publisher's web sales — extending that coverage to app users is typically a smaller step than building from scratch.
App review sensitivity
The user experience must remain transparent. The user should be in no doubt that they are leaving the app to complete payment elsewhere.
Legal evolution
The US legal position is not yet final. The architecture we recommend isolates the payment layer so that adjustments — for example, accommodating a future commission — can be made without rebuilding the app.
