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Under the new EU Digital Markets Law, Apple will support third-party app stores and sideloading on European iPhones and iPads. A Bloomberg The report claims that Apple is using a “significant amount of resources” to implement this change in iOS 17, which will be released in late 2023.
For better or worse, European regulators aren’t interested in defending Apple’s walled garden. The EU recently decreed that Apple, along with other portable device manufacturers, must support USB-C charging by December 28, 2024. The new Digital Markets Law goes a step further, greatly reducing Apple’s capacity to restrict software on your platform.
It is an interesting situation. Apple claims that sideloading presents a threat to customer safety and well-being. And, in some cases, the company is probably right: if you’re able to install any random app, you might eventually run into malware. Third-party app stores could also fuel the trend of “duplicate” or “cloned” apps, which Apple often tries to combat.
But realistically speaking, the Apple App Store contains a lot of rogue apps. And from my experience with Android, people who download apps are usually tech-savvy. So this new rule is mostly a good thing. You will have more control over your phone and the applications prohibited by Apple (such as game emulators or Fortnite) should be easily accessible.
The Digital Market Law could also affect the way Apple handles payments. At the time of writing, Apple takes a large chunk of any in-app purchase or subscription on the iPhone. It also restricts the type of content that apps can sell (for example, Spotify can’t sell audiobooks on the iPhone). But third-party app stores can help developers bypass these fees. (this is huge maybe.)
According to the EU, Apple has until March 6, 2024 to comply with the Digital Markets Law. Bloomberg claims that Apple will implement sideloading in iOS 17, which arrives in late 2023. Again, this change is exclusive to Europe.
Source: Bloomberg
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