Apple has published two separate updates to its Developer Program License Agreement this year, one carrying new European Union terms and one carrying new Brazil terms, and both require a developer’s signature before Thursday, October 1, 2026. Apple’s developer news dated the EU version August 18, 2026, and the Brazil version June 18, 2026: two different documents, two different jurisdictions, and one identical effective date.
The Developer Program License Agreement is the standard contract every registered Apple developer accepts in order to build for Apple’s platforms and distribute through the App Store. When Apple changes business terms or platform rules for a specific country, it typically republishes this agreement rather than issuing a standalone notice, which is why these two updates carry legal weight of their own, separate from the iOS 27 software update arriving Monday, September 14.
Key facts on the two updated agreements
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Agreement covering | European Union terms |
| Published | August 18, 2026 |
| Effective | Thursday, October 1, 2026 |
| Agreement covering | Brazil terms |
| Published | June 18, 2026 |
| Effective | Thursday, October 1, 2026 |
| Source | developer.apple.com/news/ |
Why two documents instead of one
Apple did not combine the EU and Brazil changes into a single global update. Its developer news feed treats them as two separate items, published two months apart, that happen to land on the same effective date. Nothing in either notice suggests the timing overlap is anything other than a scheduling outcome, and Apple has not commented on why the two dates coincide.
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Developers who work across both markets therefore need to track two documents rather than one, each with its own publish date, its own regional scope, and its own place in Apple’s developer news archive. A developer distributing only in the United States is not named in either update, and Apple’s developer news feed contains no third agreement dated to the same October 1 window covering any other single country.
What each agreement carries
Apple’s EU update arrived alongside a related business-terms announcement the same day, in which Apple stated that developers “can sign new terms today, with changes effective October 1.” That line describes the business terms themselves rather than the license agreement text word for word, but the two documents were published together and share the same October 1 effective date.
The Brazil update followed a different path. Apple published it on June 18, 2026, the same day it also published a separate notice describing changes to iOS itself for Brazil, effective with iOS 26.5. The license update and the platform-level change are separate documents addressing different parts of the developer relationship, though both trace to the same country and the same publication date.
EU terms versus Brazil terms, side by side
| Agreement | Published | Effective | Companion notice, same date |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU terms | August 18, 2026 | October 1, 2026 | Apple’s EU business-terms announcement |
| Brazil terms | June 18, 2026 | October 1, 2026 | “Changes to iOS in Brazil” developer notice |
What a developer needs to do before October 1
For a developer whose app is distributed in the European Union or in Brazil, the action Apple has published is straightforward: review and accept the applicable updated agreement before the October 1 effective date. Apple has stated, in the EU case, that the new terms can be signed now. It has not published an equivalent line for the Brazil agreement, only its publish date and its effective date. Apps built for devices across Apple’s current lineup, from iPhone 18 Pro to iPhone Duo, fall under whichever agreement applies to the market where the app is distributed.
What Apple has not said
- Apple has not published what happens to a developer account that has not accepted the applicable agreement by October 1.
- Apple has not said whether any other jurisdiction receives its own updated agreement on the same date.
- Apple has not detailed how the Brazil-terms agreement differs in scope from the EU-terms agreement beyond naming the country each one covers.
- Apple has not published a single combined agreement covering both jurisdictions.
As of September 12, 2026, both updated agreements are posted for developers to review, with October 1, 2026 fixed as the effective date for each. Our event recap covers what else Apple has published this month outside its developer agreements.