Native iOS
application development
in Amsterdam

For most of its history, the App Store was the only way to put an app on an iPhone. The Digital Markets Act changed that inside the European Union. Apple now permits alternative app marketplaces and, for eligible developers, distribution from their own website to users in the EU. A team planning an iOS launch in the Netherlands therefore has options that do not exist in most other markets.

Those options come with their own contract. To use them, a developer accepts separate EU business terms, which set a different fee structure from the standard App Store terms. Apple has revised these terms more than once since they appeared. Read the current version together with finance before any build work starts.

Leaving the App Store does not mean leaving Apple checks behind. Apps distributed outside it still go through notarization, a baseline review focused on security and basic function. The content rules are lighter. Code signing and malware scanning remain. The release pipeline has to account for both paths.

Distribution also changes the update story. An app installed from an alternative marketplace receives updates through that marketplace. An app installed from a website updates through the channel it came from. The same user base may end up split across channels, each with its own release timing and its own support questions.

Payments gained flexibility too. In the EU, apps can offer payment processors other than Apple in-app purchase, or send users to a purchase on the web, under conditions set in the same terms. That can suit a subscription business with an existing billing system. It also moves refunds, receipts and fraud handling onto the team.

Eligibility follows the user. These features work for people whose account and device place them in the EU. A traveller or a recent arrival may see different options. The app and the backend must handle both states without confusing anyone.

So why do most apps still stay on the App Store? Reach and trust. People know where to find apps there and how to ask for a refund. Alternative marketplaces are young and comparatively small. For many products an extra channel brings complexity sooner than it brings customers. A sensible plan starts in the App Store and treats the EU alternatives as a later decision, made with real data on cost and demand.