App Store Connect Trader Status: the DSA Step by Step

Trader status is the answer the Digital Services Act (DSA) requires Apple to ask you for: are you acting as a professional on the European Union App Store? Every developer account has to declare it in App Store Connect, even with no app in the EU. If you're a trader, your address, phone number and email show up on your listing in EU countries. If you're not, your listing warns buyers that consumer law doesn't apply.

I publish my own iOS apps, Solys, TradaZen and Nolera, and all three show up as trader on the French App Store. I checked this guide on October 27, 2026 against Apple's pages, the DSA text and real French listings. This isn't legal advice, and Apple says the same about its own page.

What trader status is

The DSA is Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 on digital services. Its Articles 30 and 31 cover platforms that let consumers conclude distance contracts with professionals. According to App Store Connect Help on the DSA, these articles require Apple to verify and display the contact details of every trader distributing apps on the App Store in the EU: an address, a phone number and an email address.

A quick word on vocabulary. Apple says "trader" in English and "commerçant" on French listings. The French text of the regulation says "professionnel", and the English version says "trader", defined in Article 3, point (f): "any natural person, or any legal person irrespective of whether it is privately or publicly owned, who is acting […] for purposes relating to his or her trade, business, craft or profession". All three words mean the same thing.

Apple can't decide for you: it's up to you to assess whether you're a trader. Apple gives you criteria, then verifies and publishes what you declare.

Who has to declare a status

Everyone. Apple says it plainly: even if you don't distribute any app in the EU, you have to declare a status. If you haven't confirmed it yet, App Store Connect asks you the next time you submit a new app.

What changes is the answer. According to Apple, you're not acting as a trader on the App Store if you don't distribute any app there in the EU: alternative distribution, TestFlight, or the App Store outside the EU only.

Your country of residence doesn't matter. What counts is whether your app is on the App Store in one of the 27 EU countries. A developer based in Canada or Morocco who sells their app in France or Germany also has to display their contact details if they're a trader.

Are you a trader? The decision tree

Apple lists four criteria, taken from the European Commission's guidelines. They're neither exhaustive nor exclusive: a "yes" doesn't automatically make you a trader, but it carries weight.

1. Your app makes you money: in-app purchases, a paid app or ads. Apple adds "especially for large volumes."
2. You have commercial practices toward consumers, like advertising or promoting products and services.
3. You're registered for VAT. In France, that's the intra-EU VAT number.
4. You develop the app as part of your professional activity, as a company or a self-employed person.

Apple adds two pointers. Whether you're enrolled as an individual or an organization, a legal status tied to a professional activity suggests you may be a trader. On the other hand, a hobbyist who built their app with no intention of selling it may not be one.

Here's the tree I draw from that. Go through the questions in order and stop at the first answer that settles it. This is my reading of Apple's criteria, not an Apple rule.

Question	If yes	If no
Is your app on the EU App Store?	Next question	Not a trader
Is there a company behind it?	Probably a trader	Next question
Does it make money?	Probably a trader	Next question
Do you advertise it?	Probably a trader	Next question
Do you have a VAT number?	Probably a trader	Probably not

A French micro-entreprise with no VAT stops at the second row if the app is part of its activity: that's Apple's fourth criterion.

What each answer costs you

Your answer	On your EU listing	What you provide
Trader	Address, phone, email	Contact details, proof
Not a trader	Consumer law excluded	Nothing more
No status	App removed from EU App Store	A status to declare

Being a trader means exposing your contact details. Not being one means telling every European visitor that the law protecting them doesn't apply between you. If your app sells a subscription, you already tick the first criterion, and a listing that excludes consumer law won't reassure any buyer. When in doubt, ask a lawyer.

What shows up on your EU listing

Once your contact details are verified, Apple publishes them on your listing as soon as your app is distributed in any of the 27 EU countries. On the French App Store, they appear in the Provider section. TradaZen's US listing doesn't show this block.

Here are the two texts, taken on October 27, 2026 from two French listings (translated):

• Trader: "The provider … has identified itself as a trader for this app and confirmed that this product or service complies with European Union law." Then three lines follow: Address, Phone, Email.
• Not a trader: "The provider … has not identified itself as a trader for this app. If you buy goods and services in the European Economic Area, consumer law does not apply to contracts between you and the provider."

So TradaZen's French listing shows my name, the "has identified itself as a trader" sentence, then my contact details. I won't copy them here, but any visitor can read them. Before you confirm, picture your address in front of every European visitor: that's exactly what will happen.

Two clarifications from Apple. These details are used for display only: they don't change the ones on your membership. And by declaring yourself a trader, you certify that you only offer products or services that comply with EU law, hence the end of the displayed sentence.

Individual or organization: what Apple asks for

The fields depend on how you enrolled in the Apple Developer Program. The choice between the two is explained in Apple developer account: price and enrollment.

Field	Individual	Organization
Address	Address or PO box	The D-U-N-S one, by default
Phone	You enter it	You enter it
Email	You enter it	You enter it
Proof	Up-to-date document	Up-to-date document

As an organization, you don't pick the address: the one tied to your D-U-N-S number is what shows up. The D-U-N-S number has its own guide. To change it, you have to contact Apple. So if your company is registered at your home, your personal address is what gets published. Enrolled as an individual, you enter an address or a PO box yourself: that's where you can protect your home.

In both cases, Apple also asks for your payment details if they're still missing in App Store Connect.

Protecting your address as an individual

Apple accepts a PO box or another alternative address. The condition: proving that this address is actually linked to you, with a receipt or an invoice, on top of the document that proves your name and address.

In France, two options:

• a PO box rented from La Poste, with the invoice as proof;
• a business domiciliation address, if you have a company, with the contract. Apple only gives the PO box as an example, so keep a recent invoice too.

Apple's help doesn't require a personal phone or email. A dedicated number and a support-only email address seem to be enough. The email has to receive the verification code; a number that can't receive a code goes through manual verification. Pick an inbox you actually check: that's where your European customers will write.

Your address, phone and email become public in every EU country where your app is available. Choose them as if you were printing them on your storefront.

Declaring your status in App Store Connect, step by step

You need the Account Holder or Admin role. The labels are the ones from Apple's help, in English.

1. Click Business at the top of the App Store Connect page.
2. In the Agreements tab, scroll down to the Compliance section.
3. Next to Digital Services Act, click Complete Compliance Requirements.
4. Choose your status. Trader: "This is a trader account", then go to step 5. You can turn it off later for specific apps. Not a trader: "This is not a trader account", no contact details needed, click Done.
5. Enter or confirm your contact details, then click Next.
6. Verify your email address with the code you receive, through two-factor authentication.
7. Verify your phone number the same way. If it can't receive a code, request manual verification.
8. Upload your proof: an up-to-date document that proves your name and address. Apple talks about business or legal documents without naming any. In France, think of a Kbis extract for a company, or a Sirene registry certificate (avis de situation) for a micro-entreprise. With a PO box, add the receipt or invoice that links you to it, then click Next.
9. Review everything, then click Confirm.

Changing the status of a single app

If at least one of your EU apps makes you a trader, you have to confirm that status. Apple then lets you turn it off or adjust it app by app. That's handy if you publish a paid app alongside a small free project with no ads or in-app purchases.

1. In Apps, choose your app.
2. In the sidebar, click App Information.
3. Scroll down to the App Store Regulations and Permits section.
4. Under Digital Services Act, click Edit, then change the status in the dialog. If you're declaring yourself a trader there for the first time, you enter your contact details and get them verified.

In the same section, the optional Labels and Markings URL is used to display the labels or markings required by EU law. It only appears on listings of apps where you're a trader. Click Add Labels and Markings, enter the URL, then Done. You can change it whenever you want.

Without a status, your app leaves the European App Store

This isn't an upcoming deadline anymore. Apple announced it on January 16, 2025 in its developer news: since February 17, 2025, apps without a trader status are removed from the App Store in the EU, until the status is provided and, if needed, verified. The announcement only covers the EU App Store.

The date comes from the DSA itself. For professionals already present on February 17, 2024, its Article 30 gave platforms twelve months to get their contact details, then required them to suspend those who hadn't provided them.

If you're preparing your first app, add this declaration to the steps in publishing an Expo app on the App Store with EAS.

Apple's help gives no timeline for verifying your contact details. On Apple's forum, developers report in 2026 declarations stuck "In Review" for weeks. One of them sees all 27 EU countries marked "Trader Status Not Provided" and "Cannot Sell" in Pricing and Availability (their thread on the Apple Developer forum). These are anecdotes, not an Apple rule. Declare your status well before launch, not the day before, and factor in the App Store review time. The other statuses are explained in waiting for verification in App Store Connect.

My checklist before declaring

1. Run every app available in the EU through the decision tree.
2. Choose the published address: a PO box is possible as an individual, the D-U-N-S address is required as an organization.
3. Set up a number and an email that receive codes and that you check.
4. Scan an up-to-date proof document, plus the one for your alternative address.
5. Check your payment details in App Store Connect.
6. Declare the status in Business, then adjust it app by app.
7. Open your listing on the App Store of an EU country and reread the Provider section.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to declare a trader status if I don't sell in the EU?

Yes. Apple asks every account to declare a status, even without EU distribution. If none of your apps are on the EU App Store, you're not acting as a trader on the App Store: you choose "This is not a trader account", with no contact details to provide.

Does a free app make me a trader?

Not necessarily. According to Apple, a hobbyist who built their app with no intention of selling it may not be a trader. But if the app shows ads, sells in-app purchases or is part of your professional activity, you tick at least one criterion.

Can I hide my personal address on the App Store?

If you're enrolled as an individual, yes: Apple accepts a PO box or another alternative address, with a receipt or invoice proving your link to it. As an organization, the address tied to your D-U-N-S number is what shows up.

Where do I declare trader status in App Store Connect?

In Business, Agreements tab, Compliance section, then Complete Compliance Requirements next to Digital Services Act. You need the Account Holder or Admin role. The per-app setting is in App Information, App Store Regulations and Permits section.

What happens if I don't declare a status?

Since February 17, 2025, an app without a status is removed from the App Store in the EU, until the status is provided and verified if needed. If your status isn't confirmed, App Store Connect asks you when you submit a new app.

Can I change the status of just one app?

Yes. In App Information, App Store Regulations and Permits section, click Edit under Digital Services Act. You can turn off or adjust the status for that app there.

Commerçant, professionnel or trader: what's the difference?

None. Apple says "trader" in English and "commerçant" on French listings. The French version of the DSA says "professionnel".

Sources

• App Store Connect Help: Manage European Union Digital Services Act trader requirements, checked on October 27, 2026.
• Apple Developer News, January 16, 2025: apps without a trader status leave the EU App Store.
• Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 on digital services, on EUR-Lex.
• Apple Developer forum: a DSA verification stuck "In Review", developer account.
• French App Store listings, Provider section, and TradaZen's US listing, checked on October 27, 2026.

Before your next submission

Trader status is just one of the boxes Apple checks before publishing. Take the free diagnostic: it tells you what's really blocking your project and sends you my Apple anti-rejection checklist.

The Apple Review Kit bundles my pre-submission checklist, my fixed rejections and Claude Code skills that review your project and your listing. For the big picture on rejection reasons, read why Apple rejects an app. The whole publishing journey is on the publish an app on the App Store page.