App compliance has always been part of an app’s lifecycle, but in 2026, it will play a far greater role in determining long-term success. Every stage, from concept and design to launch, growth, and ongoing optimisation, is now influenced by evolving platform rules, stricter data standards, new AI policies, and industry-specific regulations.
It’s no longer enough for an app to function well; it must demonstrate transparency, responsible data handling, compliant monetisation and accurate marketing. As expectations rise, compliance has become a continuous strategic priority that shapes how apps are built, approved and scaled.
What’s at stake if you’re not compliant?
As regulations tighten and scrutiny increases, non-compliance can result in more than just a delayed submission. It now carries serious consequences: app store rejection, delisting, reputational damage, user churn, restricted monetisation, and even legal or financial repercussions.
Staying compliant safeguards your credibility, builds user trust, and keeps your monetisation strategy defensible and scalable. By integrating compliance into your roadmap early rather than treating it as a final checkpoint, you establish a stronger foundation for market expansion, investor confidence and long-term retention.
In this article, we explore seven key compliance priorities you need to build into your product strategy from day one.
Compliance needs to be considered from two angles
- Platform-level approval – passing App Store and Google Play review
- Industry-level regulation – meeting sector-specific standards before launch
With the landscape tightening on both fronts, developers, marketers and product teams must factor compliance into the roadmap, UX, data flows and monetisation decisions, not just submission day. The earlier it’s built into your process, the greater your chance of launching smoothly and scaling with confidence.
To help you navigate this new environment, we’ve outlined seven key compliance priorities that every app team should understand and plan for in 2026:
- Android web-app payment rules
- Monetisation models and the compliance risks behind each one
- The Epic Games vs Apple case – and why it still shapes policy
- Industry-specific regulations for finance, health, kids, gambling & crypto
- Data privacy, consent and new global regulations
- Creative compliance
- SDK, MarTech and tracking compliance
Each of these areas has its own approval criteria and, in some cases, its own regulatory obligations. Let’s break down what each means:
1. The new compliance frontier: Android web-app payments
The lines between native and web-based experiences are fading fast, and Google has made it clear that “web-based” no longer means exempt. In 2026, Google Play billing and commerce policies apply even if:
- Your app primarily runs in a browser
- You package a PWA (Progressive Web App) for installation
- You rely on WebView or hybrid frameworks for monetised flows
In short: if it looks, feels or behaves like an app, it will be treated like one.
Even for “web-first” experiences, developers may now be required to provide clear user explanations when exiting the app to pay, follow user data and refund policy standards, and avoid any payment systems that resemble app billing but sit outside Google Play’s billing rules.
The misconception that web-apps offer a compliance shortcut is officially over. If your Android experience monetises in any way, Google’s latest billing and commerce policies must be part of your launch planning, not a post-development fix.
2. Monetisation compliance
In 2025, app stores have made one principle clear: the moment money changes hands, regulation applies. This now ranks among the leading causes of app rejection during review.
Compliance requirements are becoming more nuanced, ultimately supporting clearer, more trustworthy app experiences. By refining how revenue is handled, how payments are processed, and how pricing is communicated to users, you can strengthen your approval prospects and create a more transparent, user-friendly monetisation model from the start.
How monetisation affects compliance
Your monetisation model directly determines your compliance obligations. Whether your app uses one revenue stream or several, each must align with platform requirements:
- In-App Purchases (IAPs) – Must use official billing unless exempt, with clear disclosure
- Subscriptions – Transparent renewal terms and accessible cancellation flows
- Virtual goods/currencies – Clear conversion logic and fair-use policies
- Ad-supported monetisation – Ad network compliance + consent mechanisms
- Web checkout & external links – Must provide explicit disclosure before offloading a user
- Tiered paywalls – Must reflect the App Store listing and avoid misleading claims
There’s no blanket approval for monetisation. The platforms decide based on how and where transactions take place and whether they align with the value promised in your listing.
Why compliance is tighter than ever
Recent legal actions in the app economy have forced Apple and Google to clarify and enforce rules on where billing must occur, when alternatives are allowed, and how user protections apply to pricing models. As rulings evolve, so do the requirements. Compliance is no longer about what works today; it’s about anticipating what’s coming next.
3. Epic vs Apple case: Why it still matters in 2026
The Epic Games vs Apple lawsuit did more than challenge billing policy; it marked a pivotal moment in how the app economy operates. The dispute began when Epic introduced an alternative in-app payment system within Fortnite to bypass Apple’s 30% commission, a direct violation of App Store rules. Apple responded by removing Fortnite from the App Store, prompting Epic to file a lawsuit questioning the fairness of closed payment ecosystems and platform control.
What started as a bold move by a major game developer quickly escalated into a global conversation about platform power, billing rights, and developer autonomy. The case has since become a defining moment for mobile governance, reshaping expectations across both major app stores and accelerating changes to compliance policies, particularly around billing, fee transparency and user consent.
Although rulings continue to shift, the ripple effects are clear.
The case sparked:
- Stricter review of in-app payment flows
- Introduction of alternative billing – with new compliance rules
- Updated fee disclosure expectations
- More scrutiny during review and resubmission
- Greater focus from Google on hybrid and PWA-led monetisation strategies
The case raised a new question for developers: not just “How do we monetise?” but“How do we monetise compliantly?”
4. Industry-specific regulatory approvals
For some apps, platform approval alone is not enough. Certain industries operate under specific regulations designed to protect users from financial risk, exposure of sensitive data, or inappropriate content. These regulatory obligations can apply before your app even reaches App Store or Google Play review – and failing to meet them can delay launch by weeks or even months.
If your app falls into a regulated category, compliance must be considered throughout product planning, UX design, and data architecture, not just at the submission stage.
Key regulated app categories
Apps in the following sectors may require regulatory clearance in addition to standard platform compliance:
- Financial services – FCA, SEC, MAS, BaFin, ASIC
- Healthcare/medical – HIPAA, FDA, MHRA, CE marking
- Children’s apps – COPPA and age-appropriate design standards
- Gambling/real-money gaming – Licensing varies significantly by region
- Crypto trading & wallets – Regulations differ across global jurisdictions
These requirements vary based on data handling, payment mechanics and geographic launch markets. In regulated industries, compliance isn’t just about eligibility; it determines whether your app can enter or scale in the market at all.
Regulations are tightening fast
Regulators across industries have become significantly stricter in 2026, particularly in areas that affect safety, transparency, and financial risk. Key areas under scrutiny include:
- Clear disclosures and user consent
- AI-driven financial recommendations and automated decision-making
- Data storage & encryption practices
- Robust identity verification
- Risk warnings, especially for financial and gaming services
- Advertising standards and claim accuracy
Compliance isn’t just about launch, it’s about scale
Whatever category your app falls into, regulatory planning must be integrated into your launch, scaling strategy, market expansion, and even feature roadmap. Entering a new market could require entirely new documentation, certifications or audit trails, and ignoring this can stall growth before it starts.
5. Data privacy, consent & global regulations: Now harder than ever before
App developers now face a far more fragmented and complex privacy landscape, one where global regulatory overlap, stricter enforcement, and AI-driven data use are under fresh scrutiny.
GDPR, CCPA/CPRA and HIPAA still form the core of data protection requirements, but they are no longer enough on their own. Several new regulations and cross-border data constraints now directly affect how apps collect, store, and process user information.
New data laws you must consider in 2026
In addition to existing standards, compliance strategies must now account for:
- India – DPDP Act (Digital Personal Data Protection)
- Brazil – LGPD (Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados)
- China – PIPL (Personal Information Protection Law)
- Middle East and Africa – Emerging regional data-protection regimes
- Global – Cross-border transfer rules
- Device-level – ATT (App Tracking Transparency), Privacy Sandbox, SKAN, consent mode
This growing web of regulations means that your app may meet legal requirements in one region but still face rejection or penalties elsewhere. Compliance must now be geographically adaptive, not one-size-fits-all.
6. Creative compliance: Now a core approval factor
Compliance no longer ends at the product level; your marketing assets are now subject to review, too. The rise of AI-generated content has forced platforms to introduce brand-new rules governing how apps are presented, and 2026 marks the year when creative compliance became an active approval criterion.
This means your screenshots, promo videos, ad creatives, landing pages, and onboarding flows may all be evaluated for accuracy, transparency and regulatory alignment. And if AI is used in any part of the process, scrutiny increases further.
AI-generated visuals, voiceovers, avatars and UI mock-ups have become commonplace. Platforms have responded with stricter oversight to protect users from unfair, misleading, or artificially enhanced representations of what an app actually does.
So, before you upload your creatives, they must be evaluated through a compliance lens, exactly as you would with monetisation or data flows.
The ABCs of creative compliance
A. Accuracy & claims
Visuals must reflect real app functionality. Fictional UI mock-ups, fabricated testimonials and exaggerated performance claims are increasingly rejected. For example, promises such as “Lose 10kg in 10 days” or “Guaranteed profit” are likely to trigger review escalation.
B. Behavioural & policy-compliant representation
AI-generated assets must be checked carefully. This includes verifying that no unlicensed likenesses, approximated logos, character designs or visual styles have been used. Platforms are actively penalising apps for accidental IP infringement, even when caused unintentionally by AI tools.
C. Copyright & ownership
If AI models have drawn from third-party datasets, developers must ensure the final output doesn’t resemble protected imagery or brand assets. Transparency around creative sourcing is fast becoming part of compliance best practice.
7. SDK, MarTech & tracking compliance – Still a top reason for app rejection
Your app’s SDK stack is often one of the first things stores will scrutinise during review and increasingly, one of the most common reasons for rejection. SDKs sit at the intersection of user data, monetisation, attribution, privacy and analytics, meaning they play a central role in how your app behaves behind the scenes. As a result, Google and Apple now treat SDK compliance as a direct reflection of how seriously you take user protection and data transparency.
This is no longer a technical afterthought. Stores may request a full breakdown of every SDK used, what it collects, how it’s configured, and why it’s necessary. The age of “copy-paste and hope for approval” is over. Your SDK stack must now be proactively documented, compliant and clearly justified.
Before submitting your build, ensure your SDKs are:
- Documented – Stores may request your SDK list and explanations
- Up to date – Outdated SDKs may contain banned methods or restricted APIs
- Transparent – Clearly define what is collected and why
- Consent-based – No tracking without user permission
- Region-aware – Data must not be sent to unapproved domains
- Privacy complaint – No device fingerprinting or policy workarounds
Crucially, SDKs must not bypass ATT, Privacy Sandbox, SKAN or any regional data laws via alternative mechanisms. Even perceived circumvention can trigger review escalation.
Incoming challenges you could face in 2026
Platform regulators have also introduced enhanced policies around advanced data handling and AI-powered SDKs. Areas now attracting increased scrutiny include:
- AI-enabled tracking or analytics tools
- Predictive or behavioural monitoring SDKs
- Third-party analytics with unclear data routing
- Cross-device identity stitching or fingerprinting
- Postback flows that reveal user-level attribution
- Background data transmission without consent
Put simply: if your SDK can infer identity, even indirectly, you may be expected to justify its use.
The apps that succeed will be transparent, regulation-ready and built with accountability across every layer: UX, data, monetisation, AI, creative, and technical infrastructure. The earlier you act, the easier it is to launch, scale and expand into new markets without friction.
Ready to scale your app in 2026? Get in touch, and we’ll help you navigate the new year!
