Apple will revise consent prompts for targeted advertising after Germany’s competition authority closed a review through binding commitments, Reuters reported. The changes alter how consent choices are presented to iPhone and iPad users and implemented by app developers and advertising businesses.
Key facts
- Reuters reported that Apple has four months after formal service of the decision to implement the changes.
- The commitments reportedly remain in force for seven years and will be independently monitored.
- The resolution closes the German investigation without a court judgment.
What Apple agreed to change
Reuters reported that prompts for third-party apps must become neutral in their wording and visual presentation.
Apple’s current support materials explain that apps must request permission before tracking activity across other companies’ apps and websites. Users can allow or refuse tracking and later change that choice in their privacy settings.
Refusing permission prevents a developer from accessing Apple’s advertising identifier and bars tracking through other identifying information under Apple’s rules.
Why Germany examined the system
The Bundeskartellamt opened the investigation in June 2022. In February 2025, it issued a preliminary assessment that Apple’s framework might favor Apple’s services and impede third-party app providers.
That assessment concerned Section 19a of Germany’s Competition Act and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It was a preliminary competition assessment, not a final court finding.
The new resolution uses prospective commitments, meaning promised business changes that the authority makes binding to address its concerns.
What Apple and industry groups say
Reuters reported that Apple maintains its existing prompt gives users clear and effective control over their information. Apple nevertheless agreed to change the prompt’s text and formatting at the authority’s request.
Reuters also reported that Apple plans similar changes in almost all European Union countries. That planned rollout is broader than the German authority’s jurisdiction and is not an EU-wide order.
German media and advertising associations welcomed binding action but called the remedy too lenient. They argue that some duplicate prompts and competitive disadvantages may remain.
Those groups said they will watch the technical testing, implementation and seven-year monitoring period. Their claims of infringement and possible damages are advocacy positions, not court adjudications.
What happens next
Implementation remains prospective and will include technical testing involving app publishers. The four-month period begins after formal service, so it should not be converted into a fixed calendar deadline without that date.
Independent monitoring will follow after implementation, Reuters reported. Apple’s current system permits users to allow or refuse cross-company tracking and later change that permission.
