Under Apple’s new EU business terms, effective Thursday, October 1, 2026, a purchase made after a customer taps a link out of an app counts toward Apple’s Store Services Commission only if it happens within 7 days of that tap. Apple’s developer support page states the window as a flat number, with no separate figure for different app categories.
The 7-day attribution window sits inside the same rate card that replaced the Core Technology Fee with a flat 5 percent Core Technology Commission. It applies specifically to the link-out route, one of four routes in Apple’s new EU rate card, and it is the detail that decides how long a sale stays attributable to the app that sent the customer to the web.
Key facts on the attribution window
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Effective | October 1, 2026 |
| Attribution window | 7 days from the link tap |
| Commission on qualifying sales | 15% standard, 10% reduced (Store Services Commission) |
| Monthly reporting deadline | Within 15 days of each calendar month’s end |
| Kids category restriction | No website links for transactions |
| Source | developer.apple.com/support/apps-in-the-eu/ |
What the 7-day attribution window means
A developer that links a customer out to a website to complete a purchase owes the Store Services Commission only on sales completed inside that 7-day span. A purchase made on day 8 or later, from Apple’s published wording, falls outside the window the link-out commission is designed to capture. Apple’s page does not say how it tracks the tap-to-purchase interval, or what happens if a customer taps the link more than once before buying.
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The window is specific to the link-out route on Apple’s rate card. It does not apply to Apple In-App Purchase, which carries its own 26 or 15 percent rate regardless of timing, or to alternative in-app payment processing, billed at 20 or 15 percent whenever the transaction happens inside the app. The 7-day clock only governs the case where the customer leaves the app entirely to pay on the web.
For a subscription sold through a link-out, the 7-day window covers the first purchase that starts the subscription. Apple’s page does not separately address whether a later renewal, months after the original tap, is treated as a new attribution event or as a continuation of the same one.
The Store Services Commission rate, standard and reduced
| Rate tier | Store Services Commission | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 15% | Most EU app businesses using the link-out route |
| Reduced | 10% | Small Business Program, Mini Apps Partner Program, Video Partner Program participants, and renewing subscriptions after year one |
Child-safety limits attached to the same change
Apple attached three child-safety restrictions to the link-out and alternative-payment changes in the same EU update. Apps in the Kids category cannot include website links for transactions at all. Users under 18 require parental gates before using alternative payments or web transactions. Users under 13 cannot access web transaction links under any circumstance.
- Kids category apps: no website links for transactions.
- Users under 18: parental gates required for alternative payments or web transactions.
- Users under 13: no access to web transaction links at all.
What Apple has not said
- Apple has not published the technical method it uses to measure the 7 days between a link tap and a completed purchase.
- Apple has not said what happens to a sale that starts inside the 7-day window but is not completed until after it closes.
- Apple has not detailed how the parental gate for under-18 users is implemented or verified.
- Apple has not published enforcement figures for how often the attribution window or the Kids category restriction has been tested since the terms were announced.
The 7-day window and its Store Services Commission take effect on October 1, 2026, alongside the rest of Apple’s new EU rate card. Developers using link-outs can review the exact wording on Apple’s developer support page now. Our iOS 27 release coverage and iPhone Duo reporting track the platform this rule runs on.