Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL; DR
- Apple will soon allow “authorized developers” to distribute apps directly from their website without an app store in the middle.
- However, the requirements for “authorized developer” status are very high and include the payment of a disputed fee for the underlying technology.
- Apple is also loosening conditions around third-party marketplaces and how developers can design promotions when linked to purchases.
Apple has been forced to make some big changes to the way iOS and iPhone work, primarily due to the EU’s Digital Markets Act. For the first time in its history, the company must officially allow sideloading of apps on the iPhone through competing third-party app stores. Apple is now changing its sideloading policy, allowing iOS users in the EU to install apps directly from websites without the intervention of an app store from Apple or competitors.
Especially for users in the EU, iOS 17.4 includes some significant changes to the iPhone and the Apple App Store in compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Users can download and use alternative app stores in the EU region and even set them as default.
Apple is extending these changes to the EU (as noted by 9to5Mac), allowing developers to distribute applications directly from their website. “Authorized developers” will be allowed to distribute iOS apps to users in the EU directly from a developer-owned website, and this capability will be available with a software update later this year. Apple will also give these developers access to APIs that make it easier to distribute apps from the web, integrate with system functionality, back up and restore user apps, and more.
While this is good news, not all developers will qualify as “authorized developers”. Apple’s eligibility requirements for web distribution mention that, among other requirements, a developer should have an app with more than one million first annual installs on iOS in the EU in the previous calendar year. This in itself would significantly reduce the number of developers eligible for web distribution. Furthermore, developers will have to pay a controversial core technology fee of €0.50 for each first annual installation over a million in the last 12 months, which may not be the most economically favorable terms for developers to opt for.
In addition to web distribution, Apple is also making some other changes. Third-party marketplaces can now offer apps solely on their own, without adding third-party apps to the mix. Developers also now have more freedom in how they can design promotions, discounts and other offers when they link to a purchase. Apple provided mandatory design templates for them, which are now optional.
Apple’s sideload policy is now a little closer to Android than it was to the prevailing vision of iOS. Allowing apps to be installed directly from websites is similar to how developers can distribute APKs from their websites, but heavy eligibility requirements are unlikely to make this option popular. We’ll have to wait and see how many developers decide to distribute their apps this way.