--- title: Apple bows to Germany and rewrites its tracking-consent... description: Germany's Bundeskartellamt has closed its antitrust investigation into Apple's App Tracking Transparency system after Apple agreed to make consent prompts for... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/apple-bows-to-germany-and-rewrites-its-tracking-consent-rules-ending-a-self-preferencing-probe-pcqwk0t8m twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Apple bows to Germany and rewrites its tracking-consent rules, ending a self-preferencing probe | daily.dev og:description: Germany's Bundeskartellamt has closed its antitrust investigation into Apple's App Tracking Transparency system after Apple agreed to make consent prompts for... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/apple-bows-to-germany-and-rewrites-its-tracking-consent-rules-ending-a-self-preferencing-probe-pcqwk0t8m og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/PcQWK0T8m.png og:image:alt: Apple bows to Germany and rewrites its tracking-consent rules, ending a self-preferencing probe og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Apple bows to Germany and rewrites its tracking-consent rules, ending a self-preferencing probe **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Germany's Bundeskartellamt has closed its antitrust investigation into Apple's App Tracking Transparency system after Apple agreed to make consent prompts for third-party apps visually and linguistically neutral, ending a practice regulators said held rivals to a stricter standard than Apple's own apps. Developers will also be allowed to combine Apple's mandatory tracking prompt with their own data-protection prompt instead of facing two separate hurdles. Apple has four months from the formal decision to implement the changes, which will apply across nearly all of the EU and be monitored by an independent trustee for seven years. France and Italy previously fined Apple over the same ATT framework, while Germany opted for behavioral remedies instead of a fine. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What changes is Apple making to App Tracking Transparency consent prompts in Germany? Apple agreed to make third-party tracking consent prompts visually and linguistically neutral, removing discouraging wording and symbols that nudged users toward refusing consent. Developers can also combine Apple's mandatory tracking prompt with their own data-protection prompt instead of facing two separate hurdles. Apple has four months from the formal decision to implement the changes, monitored for seven years by an independent trustee, and the remedy applies across almost all of the EU. _Developers navigating App Store consent rules can follow policy shifts like this one on daily.dev._ ### Why did Germany's Bundeskartellamt investigate Apple's App Tracking Transparency system? Investigators found Apple held third-party apps to a stricter consent standard than its own services, a self-preferencing practice under antitrust scrutiny. The prompt shown to outside developers was designed to discourage consent, while Apple's own apps could sidestep the equivalent hurdle, giving Apple's advertising business a structural advantage after ATT reshaped mobile advertising revenue when it launched in 2021. _Track how platform antitrust rulings reshape app development requirements on daily.dev._ ### How much have regulators fined Apple over App Tracking Transparency in Europe? France's competition authority fined Apple €150 million over the App Tracking Transparency framework, and Italy's regulator imposed a €98.6 million penalty. Germany's Bundeskartellamt chose behavioral remedies instead of a fine, requiring Apple to make consent prompts neutral and allow combined consent flows, enforced by an independent trustee for seven years. _Developers weighing platform compliance costs can keep up with EU antitrust actions via daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Italy Fines Apple €98.6 Million Over ATT Rules Limiting App Store Competition](https://daily.dev/posts/italy-fines-apple-98-6-million-over-att-rules-limiting-app-store-competition-kew8hnfxv) · The Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Italian Competition Authority fines Apple over 98 million euro for abuse of a dominant position](https://daily.dev/posts/the-italian-competition-authority-fines-apple-over-98-million-euro-for-abuse-of-a-dominant-position-czhwj9dtx) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Apple agrees to hand India the financials it spent months trying to withhold](https://daily.dev/posts/apple-agrees-to-hand-india-the-financials-it-spent-months-trying-to-withhold-lis1r1vur) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Italy’s antitrust regulator opens a probe into Apple’s cloud services](https://daily.dev/posts/italy-s-antitrust-regulator-opens-a-probe-into-apple-s-cloud-services-5hqd5qide) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Apple’s new App Review Guidelines clamp down on apps sharing personal data with ‘third-party AI’](https://daily.dev/posts/apple-s-new-app-review-guidelines-clamp-down-on-apps-sharing-personal-data-with-third-party-ai--ktgbpqr8q) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#apple](https://daily.dev/tags/apple), [#ios](https://daily.dev/tags/ios), [#privacy](https://daily.dev/tags/privacy) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/apple-bows-to-germany-and-rewrites-its-tracking-consent-rules-ending-a-self-preferencing-probe-pcqwk0t8m) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Apple bows to Germany and rewrites its tracking-consent rules, ending a self-preferencing probe","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/apple-bows-to-germany-and-rewrites-its-tracking-consent-rules-ending-a-self-preferencing-probe-pcqwk0t8m","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/apple-bows-to-germany-and-rewrites-its-tracking-consent-rules-ending-a-self-preferencing-probe-pcqwk0t8m"},"datePublished":"2026-08-17T12:11:37.619Z","dateModified":"2026-08-17T12:12:01.700Z","description":"Germany's Bundeskartellamt has closed its antitrust investigation into Apple's App Tracking Transparency system after Apple agreed to make consent prompts for...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/09e8d4cba7cf4ad7cad476f332110db6?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/09e8d4cba7cf4ad7cad476f332110db6?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/apple-bows-to-germany-and-rewrites-its-tracking-consent-rules-ending-a-self-preferencing-probe-pcqwk0t8m","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"apple,ios,privacy","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Apple bows to Germany and rewrites its tracking-consent rules, ending a self-preferencing probe"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/apple-bows-to-germany-and-rewrites-its-tracking-consent-rules-ending-a-self-preferencing-probe-pcqwk0t8m#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What changes is Apple making to App Tracking Transparency consent prompts in Germany?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Apple agreed to make third-party tracking consent prompts visually and linguistically neutral, removing discouraging wording and symbols that nudged users toward refusing consent. Developers can also combine Apple's mandatory tracking prompt with their own data-protection prompt instead of facing two separate hurdles. Apple has four months from the formal decision to implement the changes, monitored for seven years by an independent trustee, and the remedy applies across almost all of the EU. Developers navigating App Store consent rules can follow policy shifts like this one on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why did Germany's Bundeskartellamt investigate Apple's App Tracking Transparency system?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Investigators found Apple held third-party apps to a stricter consent standard than its own services, a self-preferencing practice under antitrust scrutiny. 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