Apple’s walled garden is being dismantled further – at least in EU member states. Apple has announced that iPhone (and iPad) users in the EU will soon be able to download apps directly from websites, just like you can on Windows or macOS.
New app distribution options (via MacRumors) also give developers more control over how in-app transactions are handled outside of the official App Store, as well as allowing third-party app stores to offer apps or games from a single developer.
The biggest change here, though, is web downloads, which will be enabled via software “later this spring” according to Apple – so probably in March or April. The latest iOS 17.4 update arrived last week, enabling third-party app stores on iPhones in the EU for the first time.
This is all in response to the Digital Market Act (DMA) in the EU, which forces Apple to make it easier for other developers to distribute apps on the iPhone. None of these changes are coming to the US, Australia or the UK – although the UK has its own version of DMA in the works.
Warnings attached
Enabling web app downloads on iOS (and iPadOS) doesn’t mean that anyone will be able to put an app online ready for download: developers must have been in the official developer program for at least two years and have an app with more than a million downloads of installations in the EU in the previous year.
There will be ongoing requirements that need to be met as well, such as transparency regarding data collection policies and web domain registration in the App Store. Apple will still be able to exercise some control over what apps you can and can’t download through a web browser.
Apple’s position, as it always has been, is that opening up access to apps in this way threatens user privacy and security because it gives Apple less control over third-party apps. The company complies with the DMA, but very reluctantly.
The EU also fined Apple a whopping €1.8bn – around $1.96bn / £1.54bn / AU$2.98bn – for preventing other music streaming services (such as Spotify) from offering cheaper deals for iOS. An appeal against that decision is currently underway.