On June 18, 2026, Apple published the changes it will apply to iOS in Brazil after reaching an agreement with CADE, the country’s competition regulator. The headline: developers can now distribute apps outside the App Store and offer their own payment methods. The changes are built into iOS 26.5 and are already available to developers.
What actually changes
Until now, an iPhone user in Brazil could only install apps from the App Store and pay inside them through Apple’s purchase system. That opens up on two fronts.
First, developers can distribute their iOS apps through alternative marketplaces, not only the App Store. Those marketplaces need Apple authorization and have to meet ongoing requirements. Apps distributed this way skip the usual App Review process.
Second, App Store apps in Brazil can include their own payment processing or link to a website to charge users. Apple’s In-App Purchase stays available as an option, but it’s no longer the only one. The catch: transactions that don’t go through Apple don’t get Apple’s refund support.
Notarization: the security filter
Because apps distributed outside the App Store skip the full review, Apple applies a process called Notarization. It describes it as “a combination of automated checks and human review” that “helps ensure apps function as promised and are free of known malware, viruses, or other security threats.”
Apple admits this is “less comprehensive than the App Review process.” So it’s a baseline check on security and behavior, not the full review you get on the App Store. If you install from an alternative marketplace, keep that in mind: the bar is lower than on the App Store.
Safeguards for minors
This is the part that puts the announcement in the security bucket. Apple adds several protections:
- Kids category apps cannot include links to external transaction websites.
- Users under 18 need a parental gate to use alternative payment methods in App Store apps.
- Users under 18 cannot access external payment links.
- Developers get a new API so parents can monitor purchases that don’t go through Apple.
- Age ratings stay mandatory, regardless of how the app is distributed.
The point is that opening up payments doesn’t leave minors exposed to charges outside parental control. If you manage devices for children or teens, these rules are the important detail of the announcement.
Who this matters to
If you’re in Brazil and use an iPhone, you’ll see more options for where to install apps and how to pay, with the trade-off that some apps carry fewer guarantees than App Store ones and that external payments don’t include Apple’s refund. If you develop for iOS, you get a new distribution and billing path with its own commission structure (the App Store charges 10% or 21% depending on the program; alternative distribution has a 5% Core Technology Commission, and store services on web transactions run 10% to 15%).
It mirrors what Apple already did in the European Union under the DMA, now adapted to Brazil’s regulatory framework. To understand the system these changes apply to, see the iOS page. And if you care about the pure security side of recent releases, we previously covered the iOS 26.5 patches that fixed a kernel root escalation.