When the European Union introduced the Digital Markets Act, some big tech companies, including Apple, were forced to react. Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has weighed in to say that a new feature mandated by the EU is “a threat to the App Store.” The change will arrive in iOS 17.5, currently in its second beta version; all the details are here. Its general release is expected in May.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman refers to EU legislation: “It requires devices like the iPhone to install apps directly from the web. The idea is to make smartphones more like personal computers, where installing software from the Internet comes naturally. But this represents a big change for Apple and has the potential to affect its App Store business, especially if the focus extends beyond Europe.”
Gurman’s last sentence is the most notable: while the legal changes are only operational in the European Economic Area, it may only be a matter of time before other nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, for example, consider that the changes are important enough for them. use them too.
And Gurman’s analogy is quite apt: PC and Mac users don’t think about downloading software from the Internet daily. That is not why the EU proposed this legislation. He specifically wanted to limit the actions of tech companies that were behaving like monopolies and sought to open things up.
Apple has already introduced, with the current general release software iOS 17.4 and iOS 17.4.1, the framework that allows EU users to install third-party app stores, such as the new AltStore PAL, which has just been launched.
Gurman puts it this way: “Apple was more comfortable with a separate but related EU requirement to allow third-party app stores. Such markets are complicated to set up and operate, so it seems unlikely that many of them will take off. The experience for consumers may also not be very pleasant. Users will first have to open the store, create an account, and search for what they need in an unknown environment.”
Having set up AltStore PAL on my iPhone here in Spain, I am here to tell you that it is not difficult at all. Sure, it’s more complicated than the simple process of downloading from the App Store, but it’s not unpleasant.
But you’re right that finding new app markets isn’t easy.
And, as he explains, there are still obstacles. “The software will need to be notarized with an active developer account, and the iPhone will present a permission screen before the app can be installed.”
In many cases, users won’t bother. The recent change to allow game emulators on the App Store saw the arrival of Delta. It is available on the App Store for free and is also one of two apps in the PAL AltStore. It’s not on the regular EU App Store, but if it were, I suspect most users would choose that as their source, not an external marketplace. If I had the choice, that would be my choice.
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