All twenty-eight pieces, in one place

The Digital Markets Act, gatekeeper designations, alternative marketplaces, the Core Technology Fee, and the April 2025 fine — what the EU wrote, what Apple did, and what the Commission did next.

• 7 March 2024A chronological account of what changed on the day the Digital Markets Act's obligations became enforceable, and which gatekeepers had been designated by then.
• Named a GatekeeperHow the Commission's gatekeeper designation process works under Article 3 of the DMA, and what obligations attach the moment a company receives one.
• AltStore PAL Opened Its DoorsAltStore PAL was the first alternative marketplace to launch in the EU after the DMA took effect; this piece follows its launch conditions, the notarisation requirement Apple imposed, and what it revealed about Apple's interpretation of 'alternative marketplace'.
• The Fee Apple InventedA close reading of Apple's Core Technology Fee — €0.50 per install beyond one million annually — as announced in January 2024, including which developers it applies to, how Apple calculates the threshold, and why the Commission found it inconsistent with the DMA's spirit.
• €500 Million, April 2025The European Commission's April 2025 fine against Apple — the first DMA enforcement penalty — covering the infringement finding, the basis for the quantum, and Apple's stated response.
• Where the EU's Rule StopsAn argument piece examining how Japan's Smartphone Software Competition Promotion Act, Korea's 2021 in-app payment law, and the UK CMA's mobile ecosystems study each reached similar conclusions by different routes, and where they diverge from the DMA's approach.

Epic v. Apple from the 2021 Oakland ruling to the 2025 contempt finding, Epic v. Google's December 2023 jury verdict and its injunction, the developer class settlements, and the consumer cases.

• The One Clause Apple LostA focused explainer on the anti-steering injunction — the single finding in Epic v. Apple that went against Apple at the Ninth Circuit — what it required Apple to permit, and why the 2025 contempt proceedings followed.
• Oakland, 10 September 2021Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' 185-page ruling, distilled: what she found on each of Epic's nine claims, why she rejected the market definition Epic argued, and what the ruling left open for appeal.
• Apple in ContemptThe April 2025 contempt finding against Apple for non-compliance with the anti-steering injunction — what Apple had done, what the court found it was required to do, and the remedies imposed.
• Twelve People in San Francisco, December 2023The December 2023 jury verdict in Epic v. Google, where jurors found Google had illegally monopolised the Android app distribution market — a walk-through of what Epic argued, what Google argued, and what the jury found on each question.
• The Injunction Google Is Still FightingJudge James Donato's remedies order following the Epic v. Google verdict — requiring Google to open the Play Store to competing stores and alternative billing — and the procedural steps Google has taken to delay or narrow it.
• What the Developer Settlements Actually ChangedA sceptical accounting of the Apple developer class settlement (2021, $100 million) and the Google Play developer settlement, comparing what developers received against what the complaints alleged, and which practices each settlement left intact.

The 30% commission, the small-business programme, subscription revenue's share of app income, ARPU by market, user acquisition costs after ATT, and what the top-grossing charts show as public data.

• Thirty Per Cent, and Nobody ArguedThe history of the App Store's 30% commission from its 2008 introduction — when it was roughly what a physical retailer took — through eight years of stasis to the regulatory and litigation pressure that produced the 15% small-business tier.
• The 15% Tier in PracticeWhat the App Store Small Business Programme and Google Play's equivalent actually changed for developers under the threshold, who qualifies, and what the analytics firms' estimates say about the revenue share it affected.
• The Revenue Moved to SubscriptionsHow subscription revenue came to dominate app-store income, displacing paid-up-front and in-app purchase, with Sensor Tower and Appfigures figures (attributed and dated) showing the shift by year and category.
• ATT and the Networks That Absorbed the LossApp Tracking Transparency's April 2021 launch and its measured effect on mobile advertising revenue — Snap's earnings guidance warning, Meta's $10 billion loss estimate, and the shift to SKAdNetwork.
• Where the Estimates Come FromA transparent account of what Sensor Tower, Appfigures, and data.ai sell, how their estimates are constructed, who commissions the reports journalists cite, and where their methodologies diverge.
• The ARPU GapAverage revenue per user by market — US, Japan, Western Europe, Southeast Asia, India — and why the disparity matters for how platforms price commissions and how regulators in each jurisdiction frame their case.

App Store and Google Play review guidelines as published policy, Epic's Swedish store, F-Droid, Samsung Galaxy Store, Huawei AppGallery after 2019, and Amazon Appstore's 2025 closure.

• Epic's Swedish StoreThe Epic Games Store's EU mobile launch — which titles it opened with, the commission structure Epic published, and what its first months showed about alternative marketplace uptake under the DMA.
• F-Droid and the Sideload QuestionF-Droid as the longest-running alternative Android distribution channel — what it is, how APK sideloading works as a matter of published Android policy, and what the DMA's sideloading provisions add or change.
• AppGallery After the Entity ListHuawei AppGallery's position after the 2019 US Entity List designation cut it off from Google Mobile Services — how it grew its catalogue, its published developer terms, and where it sits in the global store landscape as of the figures available.
• Amazon Appstore Closed in 2025Amazon's decision to shut the Appstore in 2025 — the announcement, the wind-down timeline, and what it says about the difficulty of competing with Google Play on Android.
• The Guidelines as a Legal DocumentA comparative reading of the App Store Review Guidelines and Google Play's Developer Policy Center as published documents — where they agree, where they diverge, and which provisions have been the subject of regulatory challenge or litigation.

WhatsApp, WeChat, TikTok's US divestiture law, Telegram, Duolingo's streak mechanic, BeReal's sale, and the retention numbers on AI assistant apps since 2023.

• One App That Contains the OthersWeChat's superapp architecture — mini-programs, payments, identity — and why it represents a model that neither Apple nor Google's store rules were written to accommodate.
• TikTok and the Law That Named ItThe Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (2024), its timeline, the court challenges ByteDance brought, and where the divestiture process stood as of the most recent published filing.
• The Streak Mechanic as a Revenue StrategyHow Duolingo's streak counter became the central mechanic of its subscription conversion funnel — what Duolingo's published earnings reports say about daily-active-user to subscriber ratios, and what it demonstrates about the subscription model the app-economy numbers now rest on.
• BeReal's Rise and Its SaleBeReal's growth from 2022 peak downloads to its acquisition by Voodoo — the published retention figures, the advertising model it never fully launched, and what the arc illustrates about virality without a monetisation structure.
• The Retention ProblemAI assistant apps — ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude — since 2023, with published download and monthly-active-user figures showing a consistent gap between install spikes and sustained engagement.