Reviewing an app store developer agreement

An app store developer agreement is the price of reaching the store's users: acceptance of the store's guidelines, its commission on payments, its right to reject or remove an app, and its right to change all of it. The agreement cannot be negotiated, but the store is an online intermediation service subject to the Platform to Business Regulation, and its conduct may be subject to the digital markets regime. I review the agreement and the guidelines and return them annotated, with a written explanation of what they mean for the developer's app and business and the rights the developer has, for a fixed fee of £495 in three working days.

Who this is for

App developers, software businesses, agencies publishing apps for clients, and businesses whose product is delivered through a mobile app in England and Wales, whether distributing through the major mobile app stores or a desktop or console store, and want to understand the terms before they build a business on them. The developer and the store are businesses; the store's consumer terms govern the sale to the user.

What to look for in an app store developer agreement

The rights the Platform to Business Regulation gives a developer

An app store is an online intermediation service within Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 as retained, so its terms must set out the grounds for restricting, suspending or terminating a developer's access (Article 3), changes to the terms must be notified with a period before they apply, and a decision to restrict or terminate must come with a statement of reasons (Article 4), an internal complaints process and access to mediation. The review reads the store's agreement and guidelines against those requirements and explains how the developer invokes them when an app is rejected or removed.

App review, rejection and the guidelines

The store reviews every submission against guidelines that run to hundreds of rules on content, functionality, privacy, payments and design, and can reject an app or an update for any of them. The review explains the guidelines that bear on the developer's app, the rejection and appeal process, the timescales the store commits to, and the areas where rejections are commonest, so that the developer can design around them and respond to a rejection with the guideline in hand.

Commission, in-app payments and the store's billing rules

The store takes a commission on paid apps and on digital goods and subscriptions sold in the app, requires its own billing system for those purchases, and restricts what the developer may say to users about buying elsewhere. The review explains the commission tiers, the rules on external purchase links and alternative payment options, which have changed under competition and digital markets enforcement and which differ by store and by territory, and the digital markets regime in Part 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, under which the Competition and Markets Authority can impose conduct requirements on firms it designates as having strategic market status.

Removal, termination and what happens to your users

The store may remove an app for a guideline breach, a legal complaint, an intellectual property claim by a third party or a change in its rules, and may terminate the developer's account for repeated breaches or, in some agreements, for any reason on notice. The review explains the grounds, the statement of reasons and appeal the Regulation requires, what happens to existing users and subscriptions when an app is removed, and the developer's obligations to its own customers under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 for digital content they have paid for.

User data, privacy labels and the developer's own obligations

The store requires a privacy policy, a privacy label or data safety form describing what the app collects, and compliance with its rules on tracking, permissions and children's data, and the developer is the controller of the data its app collects under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, with the store as a separate controller for the purchase and account data. The review explains the developer's own obligations, the store's requirements that go beyond the law, and the data the store shares with the developer about users and purchases. Where the app hosts user-generated content or lets users interact, the Online Safety Act 2023 duties may apply to the developer as the service provider.

Intellectual property, the store's licence and the governing law

The developer keeps its intellectual property and grants the store a licence to distribute the app and use its name, icon and screenshots in the store. The review checks the scope of that licence, the developer's warranty that the app does not infringe third-party rights and the indemnity behind it, and the treatment of the store's own software and tools used to build the app. The agreement will be governed by a foreign law with disputes in a foreign court, and the review explains what section 27 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Regulation's complaint and mediation routes leave available to a UK developer.

What it costs

Standard review, £495. Marked-up document and a written explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the contract review page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• Your own contract returned with my amendments as tracked changes, plus a clean version with every change accepted, ready to send to the other side
• Comments in the document where a point needs explaining
• A written explanation of what I have changed and why, by email or as an attachment if it is lengthy, marking the points I would hold firm on and the ones that are negotiable
• A view on what is normal market practice and what is the other side pushing their luck
• One round of follow-up questions by email, included

What is not included

• Negotiating directly with the other side, which I quote separately once I know who is on the other side. Where the other side is willing to share a live document, I can work in that document directly
• Drafting a replacement contract from scratch
• Advice on the law of any jurisdiction other than England and Wales
• Tax, accounting or regulatory advice
• Disputes about a contract that is already signed

Questions I am often asked

Our app was rejected for a guideline we cannot find. What can we do?

The store must give reasons and an appeal route, and the Platform to Business Regulation requires its terms to state the grounds. The review identifies the guideline relied on, explains the appeal process and the mediation route, and advises on the change or the argument that gets the app through.

Can we tell users they can subscribe more cheaply on our website?

That depends on the store's current rules on external links and alternative payments, which have changed under competition enforcement and differ by store and territory. The review explains the rule that applies to your app now and what the digital markets regime may change.

The store removed our app and our subscribers have lost access. Who is liable to them?

You are, as the trader that sold them the digital content, and the store's removal does not change your obligations to them. The review explains your position under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, what the store's agreement provides for existing users, and how to invoke the statement of reasons and appeal.

Related guidance and services

• Contract review, £495, the service this page describes
• SaaS and technology contracts, £995
• Data protection agreements and privacy terms, £795
• Reviewing a marketplace seller agreement
• Reviewing a SaaS vendor's terms before your business signs up

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.