For a company that thrives so well with its App stores, Apple is planning to allow iPhone users to install alternative app stores on iOS, according to a report from Bloomberg. The huge change would be a remarkable shift from the company’s strategy all thanks to the European Union (EU). The company has famously only allowed iPhone and iPad users to download apps from the App Store.
The plans are reportedly being spurred on by the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is meant to enact “rules for digital gatekeepers to ensure open markets” when its restrictions become a requirement in 2024, according to a press release.
The interpretation of this law means that Apple will not only have to allow third-party app stores but sideloading as well, a feature that has been on Android from day one. This will allow users to install software downloaded from the web. Apple executives have previously called the ability to sideload software “a cybercriminal’s best friend” in response to the act.
The EU has laid out a relatively complex schedule for complying with the law, which involves companies potentially affected by it notifying regulators and a commission determining whether they’ll actually have to make changes.
In its press release, however, the EU says the latest date gatekeeper companies will have to comply with the act is March 6th, 2024.
Apple may still keep some hands on the reins. The company is apparently considering “mandating certain security requirements,” verifying outside apps in some way, and potentially charging a fee, Bloomberg reports. Apple hasn’t decided whether it will let developers install third-party payment systems in apps, which it is supposed to do under the DMA, Bloomberg says. It also hasn’t decided how it will make iMessage interoperable with other services, another condition of the DMA, and could open up its Find My network to more location accessories like Tile.
There has been no immediate response from Apple in regard to this EU request. Apart from adding 3rd -party app stores, the EU is also forcing Apple to work on another massive change of implementing USB-C to the iPhone by 2024.
