Apple Opens Its iOS Ecosystem in Brazil Under Competition Law
How a cease-and-desist agreement with CADE reshaped app distribution, payments and steering on the iPhone.
On June 18, 2026, Apple announced a set of changes to the iOS ecosystem in Brazil.[1] Developers may now distribute their apps through alternative app stores, operate such app stores themselves and process payments for digital goods and services without routing them through Apple’s In-App Purchase system. Apps may also point users to the developer’s own website to complete a purchase, a practice known as steering. All this under current competition law.
The announcement was not a voluntary gesture. It implements a cease-and-desist agreement (in Portuguese, Termo de Compromisso de Cessação or TCC) that Apple signed with CADE, Brazil’s competition authority.[2] This is a significant development given that Brazil is now discussing a new legislation to inaugurate an ex ante competition regime for so-called digital markets, which is largely based on claims that the current normative landscape is insufficient.
A singular position in the global landscape
Brazil is the only jurisdiction in the world where Apple has opened its mobile operating system using an ex post approach Everywhere else, the opening rested on ex ante antitrust enforcement.
In the European Union, similar changes came following the passage and implementation of the Digital Markets Act. Japan and South Korea passed their own sector-specific statutes. In the United States, the modifications in the context of Epic Games v. Apple rested on California’s unfair competition law rather than on federal antitrust law.[3] In Brazil, the basis for this recent development was achieved through current law Law No. 12,529/2011 –, the Competition Law (Lei de Defesa da Concorrência - LDC) that already governs conducts and mergers in the country.
How CADE got there
The case began in 2022 with a complaint by Mercado Livre, which argued that Apple’s rules foreclosed competition in app distribution and in-app payments.[2] In November 2024, CADE’s General Superintendence imposed a preventive injunction (medida preventiva) ordering Apple to allow alternative distribution and payment.[4] CADE’s Tribunal upheld that injunction in full in May 2025.[5] Apple then chose to negotiate. The parties spent the second half of 2025 building the settlement that was now announced.
The timeline is notable. Despite the complexity of the case, CADE resolved the matter within approximately three to four years of the original complaint. In Europe, the equivalent process took longer: roughly four years in a traditional antitrust investigation, plus an additional year of enforcement under the DMA.
The remedies applied by CADE track three concerns. Apple must let developers inform users of cheaper options elsewhere and link to them. It must allow payment processors other than its own, with Pix being expressly recognized as eligible. And it must permit alternative app stores, although not unrestricted sideloading. A simplified fee schedule accompanies these obligations: an App Store commission of 21% or 10% for small developers; a 5% processing fee that applies only when Apple’s own payment system is used; a 15% commission on sales made through steering links; and a 5% commission on goods sold through apps distributed outside the App Store. Apple states that developers selling digital goods will pay the same or less than they do today.[3]
Unlike the European model, the Brazilian fee structure avoids stacked charges, an issue that drew heavy criticism abroad.
Not an isolate case
In a separate proceeding involving Meta/WhatsApp, concerning new WhatsApp Business Solution Terms restricting AI providers competing with Meta AI, CADE's General Superintendence opened an administrative inquiry and imposed an interim measure in January 2026[6], roughly two months after complaints were filed in November 2025. Meta subsequently obtained a federal court injunction suspending the measure, allowing the new terms to take effect.[7] In March 2026, however, CADE's Tribunal unanimously rejected the company's appeal and upheld the measure.[8] The episode cuts both ways: even on a technically novel issue involving generative AI, CADE mobilised its existing powers quickly, yet immediate judicial intervention temporarily suspended the measure's effects for approximately six weeks, during which the contested terms applied
The legal basis
As mentioned above, these measures rest on Law No. 12,529/2011 and not on a DMA-like arrangement — although one is currently being discussed in the National Congress. The competition act lets CADE open investigations, impose preventive injunctions and settle cases through binding agreements that carry behavioral obligations and fines for non-compliance.
The Apple settlement will run for three years after a transition period, is overseen by a monitoring trustee, and exposes Apple to fines up to R$150 million.
In substance, these forward-looking behavioral duties resemble obligations that ex ante regimes aim to implement, offering an interesting insight into how Brazilian law and CADE already possess the normative instruments to deal with cases like Apple's.
References
[1] Apple. Apple anuncia mudancas no iOS para o Brasil. Apple Newsroom (Brazil), June 18, 2026. Available at: https://www.apple.com/br/newsroom/2026/06/apple-announces-changes-to-ios-in-brazil/.
[2] CADE. CADE forma maioria pela homologacao de TCC em investigacao sobre praticas da Apple no iOS. December 23, 2025. Available at: https://www.gov.br/cade/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/cade-forma-maioria-pela-homologacao-de-tcc-em-investigacao-sobre-praticas-da-apple-no-ios.
[3] CADE. Opinion of Reporting Commissioner Victor Oliveira Fernandes, Case No. 08700.006953/2025-62 (Cease-and-Desist Agreement, Apple, iOS mobile ecosystem). The comparative survey of the European Union, the United States, Japan, and South Korea appears in Section 4 of the opinion. Available at: https://cdn.cade.gov.br/portal-ingles/Publica%c3%a7%c3%b5es%20institucionais/Guias/Application%20No.%2008700.006953202562%20%20(Apple)%20-%20Opinion%20(EN).pdf.
[4] CADE. SG determina aplicação de medida preventiva contra a Apple. November 25, 2024. Available at: https://www.gov.br/cade/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/sg-determina-aplicacao-de-medida-preventiva-contra-a-apple.
[5] CADE. Tribunal do Cade mantém medida preventiva em desfavor da Apple. May 14, 2025. Available at: https://www.gov.br/cade/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/tribunal-do-cade-mantem-medida-preventiva-em-desfavor-da-apple.
[6] CADE. Cade abre inquérito contra Meta e aplica medida preventiva suspendendo Novos Termos do WhatsApp sobre IA. Available at: https://www.gov.br/cade/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/cade-abre-inquerito-contra-meta-e-aplica-medida-preventiva-suspendendo-novos-termos-do-whatsapp-sobre-ia.
[7] TELESINTESE. Justiça concede liminar à Meta para suspender decisão do Cade sobre IA. Available at: https://telesintese.com.br/justica-concede-liminar-a-meta-para-suspender-decisao-do-cade-sobre-ia/.
[8] CADE. Tribunal do Cade mantém medida preventiva sobre novos termos de uso do WhatsApp. Available at: https://www.gov.br/cade/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/tribunal-do-cade-mantem-medida-preventiva-sobre-novos-termos-de-uso-do-whatsapp.