DSA Trader Status: Why Apps Disappear from the EU App Store

On February 17, 2025, a lot of developers found out the hard way what the Digital Services Act means for app distribution. Apple removed apps without a verified trader status from the App Store across the EU, exactly as it had warned it would. Google enforces the same underlying rule. More than a year on, this still catches people out, especially new developer accounts and teams launching in the EU for the first time, because the requirement is easy to miss until your app simply is not there anymore. This post explains what trader status is, why it exists, who counts as a trader, and how to get verified so your app stays available.

What trader status is and where it comes from

Trader status comes from the Digital Services Act, the EU's regulation governing online platforms and marketplaces. One of the DSA's goals is traceability: when a consumer in the EU buys something through a marketplace, they should be able to see who they are actually buying from. The law puts the duty on the marketplace to collect and display that information about the businesses selling through it.

An app store is, for this purpose, a marketplace. Apple's App Store and Google Play both distribute paid apps and apps with in-app purchases, so under the DSA they have to identify the traders behind those apps and show the trader's contact details to users in the EU. That is why the stores now require you to declare and verify your trader status before they will distribute your app in Europe.

Why apps actually get removed

The removal is not a punishment for bad behavior. It is the store complying with its own legal obligation. If the store cannot show verified trader details for your app, it is not allowed to keep distributing that app to EU users, so it pulls it.

Apple was explicit about this. It warned developers repeatedly through late 2024 and early 2025, then on February 17, 2025 it began removing non-compliant apps from the EU storefronts, and confirmed the removals the following day. The pattern since has been consistent: declare and verify, or your app is not available in the EU. Google applies the same logic to Play, with its own verification flow.

Who counts as a trader?

This is the part that surprises people. You are a trader if you are acting for purposes relating to your trade, business, craft or profession. In app-store terms, the stores treat you as a trader if you make money from your app, whether through an upfront purchase price, a subscription, or in-app purchases.

The size of your operation does not matter. A solo developer selling a 2 euro utility is a trader in the same way a large company is. The dividing line is commercial intent, not revenue. The main group that can legitimately declare non-trader status is people distributing genuinely free apps with no monetization, and even then the stores are tightening how they treat that declaration.

What information becomes public

Trader status is not just a checkbox you tick privately. The whole point of the DSA requirement is consumer transparency, so the trader details you provide are shown to users on your app's store listing in the EU.

That typically includes a contact address, a phone number and an email address. For individual developers, this is the detail that causes the most discomfort, because a home address can end up publicly visible on the store. The practical answer most solo developers reach for is a business address or a registered agent rather than a personal one, set up before verification rather than after. Plan for this, because you cannot make the requirement go away, only choose which valid address you expose.

How to verify your trader status on the App Store

The flow lives in App Store Connect under the compliance and business information settings.

1. Open App Store Connect and go to the trader status section under your account's business information.
2. Declare whether you are a trader. If you make any money from your apps, you are.
3. Enter your trader contact details: the address, phone number and email that will be shown to EU users.
4. Submit for verification. Apple checks the information, and this can take time, so do not leave it until a release deadline.
5. Once verified, confirm that your app's EU listing shows the trader details correctly.

How to verify on Google Play

Google Play has its own equivalent process in the Play Console. You declare your trader status, provide the contact information required under the DSA, and in many cases complete an organization verification step, which for businesses often involves a D-U-N-S number. The principle is identical to Apple's: without verified trader information, your app's reach in the EU is restricted or removed.

The traps that keep catching developers in 2026

The February 2025 wave is over, but the requirement did not go away, and the same mistakes keep recurring.

New accounts forget it. A developer who set up after the big enforcement push may not realize the requirement exists until their first EU launch fails.

Details go stale. You move office, change a phone number, or restructure the company, and the verified details no longer match. That can put you out of compliance.

The free-app assumption. Teams assume a free app is exempt, then add a subscription or an in-app purchase later and become a trader without updating their status.

Multiple accounts. Agencies and studios managing apps across several developer accounts have to get each one verified, and it is easy to miss one.

The underlying issue is that trader status is not a one-time setup. It is a piece of compliance state that has to stay accurate as your business changes, and nothing in your normal release process reminds you of it.

Keeping trader status from breaking again

The reason this requirement bites is that it lives outside your build pipeline. Your code can be perfect and your app still vanishes from the EU because a verification lapsed or a new account never completed it. That makes it a monitoring problem.

This is something AppCompliance is built to catch. It can track the store-level compliance state of your apps, including DSA trader verification, and flag when an app is at risk of removal in the EU before it actually happens, rather than after you notice the download numbers fall off a cliff. Treating trader status as a monitored signal, alongside your other store-policy and EU regulatory checks, is the difference between a quiet renewal and an emergency.

If you are mapping out everything the EU now expects from an app, trader status sits alongside the obligations in our pieces on the European Accessibility Act and the Cyber Resilience Act. They are separate laws, but together they define what it now takes to keep an app live in Europe.

FAQ

What is DSA trader status?

It is a declaration, required under the EU Digital Services Act, that identifies the business behind an app and provides contact details that the app store shows to EU users. App stores count as marketplaces under the DSA and must display this information.

Why was my app removed from the EU App Store?

Almost certainly because it did not have a verified trader status. Since February 17, 2025, Apple has removed apps without verified trader details from EU storefronts, because it is not allowed to distribute them without that information. Google enforces the same rule on Play.

Am I a trader if my app is free?

If your app has no monetization at all, you may be able to declare non-trader status. If you earn anything through an upfront price, a subscription or in-app purchases, you are a trader, regardless of how small you are.

What contact information becomes public?

Typically a contact address, phone number and email, shown on your app's EU store listing. Individual developers often use a business address or registered agent rather than a personal home address.

How do I fix a removed app?

Complete the trader status declaration and verification in App Store Connect (or the Play Console for Android), provide accurate contact details, and wait for verification. Once verified, your app can be distributed in the EU again.

Does trader status expire?

It is not a one-time task. If your contact details change or your business restructures, your verified information can fall out of date, which puts you back out of compliance. It needs to stay accurate over time.