Would you buy an iPhone over Android if it had EU perks like sideloading?

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) comes into force in the European Union (EU) this week, forcing various major technology companies to adapt their platforms and services. Apple is one such company and has been forced to make a number of changes especially to its iPhones.

iPhones in the EU will have to offer alternative app stores, allow users to change their default web browser and offer alternative billing solutions. These are the biggest iOS tweaks we’ve seen in years. Unfortunately, these changes are limited to the EU.

Even so, these changes make me wonder if more Android phone users will now switch to the iPhone. After all, features like sideloading were and continue to be a big selling point for Android, and a similar feature is now available on Apple devices. Would you change? Let us know via the poll below.

On the other hand, Apple’s current implementation of the DMA changes still leaves a lot to be desired. iPhone users in the EU cannot simply visit any old website that offers iOS apps to download and install the app. Instead, third-party app stores have to go through a pretty ridiculous verification process. And we’ve already seen how Apple can control this process when it effectively banned Epic from creating its own alternative app store.

Furthermore, app developers who want to use alternative app stores have to pay a frankly ridiculous “underlying technology fee” once they reach a certain download threshold. So developers have to pay not to do business with Apple.

In other words, Apple’s changes in the EU are still a long way from Google’s relatively free approach and undoubtedly veer into outright malicious compliance. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that Apple’s questionable performance could make the iPhone less attractive to Android enthusiasts, longtime Android users, and small app developers.

So, would you switch from Android to iOS if these EU adaptations came to global markets? Vote in the poll above.