Elon Musk, Spotify, Epic and Telegram, stay tuned! According to Mark Gurman, one of the main Apple experts in the press, he says that the company will change its policy of restricting third-party app stores. From 2024, following European Union (EU) legislation, iPhone and iPad users will be able to download from stores other than the App Store — but Apple may release the novelty next year.
The information, first disclosed in the Bloomberg by “sources related to the matter”, also called an “employee speaking on condition of anonymity”, it also reveals that users will also be able to install apps in sideload — a method of downloading apps from the PC or another way to manually install them on the device.
Apple will have to adapt to European Union legislation by 2024
In the press release, the European Union discloses that companies have until March 6, 2024 to follow the Digital Markets Law (DMA), in which companies that act as digital platforms will have to guarantee the “open market” in their systems.
The term used by the EU to refer to these companies is “gatekeeper”, keeper of the gate in free translation. The word defines all digital companies that provide a product that acts as an intermediary (a gateway) between consumers and services. And this gatekeeper role is capable of, in the words of the European Union, “acting like a private legislator”, creating a filter in the digital economy – and, in fact, violating fair competition policies.
Bloomberg sources revealed that the Apple is studying ways to create security requirements to verify apps downloaded from third-party stores or by sideloading — there is even the possibility of charging the user to do this, which would not violate the DMA. The prediction is that iOS 17, which will be released in 2023debut this novelty, but third-party stores and sideloading will only be available in Europe,
However, the Law will make all these gatekeepers allow developers to use third-party payment methods, no longer being forced to use Apple’s billing system. This sounds like music for Spotify, Elon Musk, Telegram and, mainly, Epic Games — “pioneer” in fighting Apple over the 30% commission.
And one more thing: by DMA, iMessage is required to be communicable with other services.
Apple is learning that the owner of the stage chooses the music
Since the App Store appeared, back in 2008, the rule is clear: do you want to download something on your iPhone? Download from the App Store and follow all our rules. Want to make your app available to iPhone users? Use the App Store and pay 30% commission (15% if you make up to $1 million in the year) for every in-app sale.
The case is a beautiful definition of the saying “whoever pays the band chooses the music” — after all, Apple is the intermediary between the developer and a market with more than 1 billion users. If the dev doesn’t agree, your app is only available on Android or the web.
But now Apple is feeling a bit of “own poison”. The European Union has already forced the company to adopt the USB-C standard, now the block will make Apple change iOS so that third-party stores and sideloading are released.
With the European Union, Apple sees that it can serve as a gateway for developers to show their product to 1.2 billion users. However, on the global stage, it is she who depends on the legislation of sovereign nations to have a market — and the European Union has a population of almost 448 million inhabitants. Of this population, around 34% use iPhones. Apple can choose the band, but the EU is in charge.
https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/2022/12/14/apple-pode-liberar-loja-de-terceiros-e-sideload-no-iphone-a-partir-de-2023/