Apple ordered to open up in-app purchases in Brazil

In Brief

Brazil’s antitrust regulator Cade has ruled that Apple must lift restrictions on in-app purchases within 20 days, Reuters reports. Otherwise, if the iPhone maker doesn’t comply, it faces fines of $43,000 per day.

This decision is the result of a complaint filed by e-commerce merchant Mercado Libre in 2022. If you’ve been following recent changes to the App Store around the world, the list of complaints isn’t really surprising.

The Brazilian regulator has determined that Apple should allow app developers to link to external websites for subscriptions and digital purchases. Alternatively, the company could let developers take care of payment processing themselves.

Ruling after ruling, cracks are starting to appear in Apple’s walled garden. It already allows third-party app payment options or links to external websites in Europe, Japan, South Korea, and the U.S.

However, most of these cases are still ongoing, as many regulators believe Apple is not going far enough.

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