Apple will revise the consent prompts used by third-party applications seeking access to personal data for targeted advertising, resolving a multiyear investigation by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office into the company’s App Tracking Transparency framework. The commitments will apply across almost all European Union countries and remain in force for seven years under the supervision of an independent trustee.
The German authority found that the framework presented consent requests for Apple’s services more favourably than prompts shown by third-party developers, creating a potential breach of competition rules. Apple has four months from service of the decision to implement the changes. Third-party consent windows must be redesigned to remove language and symbols that could discourage permission and must become visually and linguistically neutral.
Apple said it continues to believe that the existing prompt provides users with a clear and effective way to control their data. It nevertheless agreed to change the prompt’s wording and formatting so that the framework can continue operating in Europe.
App Tracking Transparency was introduced with iOS and iPadOS 14.5 in 2021. It requires applications to obtain permission before tracking a user or device across services owned by other companies for advertising, measurement or data-broker activity. Developers must use Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency framework and determine the user’s authorisation status before accessing data used for cross-application tracking.
Germany’s investigation began from the position that these stringent requirements applied to third-party providers but not equivalently to Apple. Its preliminary assessment identified potential issues under Germany’s special abuse-control provisions for large digital companies and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
The settlement follows enforcement action elsewhere in Europe. France fined Apple €150 million over the implementation of the tracking framework, while Italy imposed a €98.6 million penalty. The regulatory actions have focused on whether the design and sequence of consent requests disadvantage developers that depend on advertising while allowing Apple to use first-party information within its own services.
The changes are geographically limited to Europe, but Indian developers distribute applications and acquire customers internationally through the same platform. Apple estimated that its App Store ecosystem in India facilitated ₹44,447 crore in developer billings and sales during 2024, with global earnings by India-based developers tripling over five years. More than 94% of the measured commerce accrued to developers without an Apple commission.
