Starting today, Apple opens web distribution for iOS applications intended for users in the European Union. Developers who opt in — and who meet Apple’s criteria, including app notarization requirements — will be able to offer iPhone apps for direct download to EU users from their own websites.
This is a huge change for the mobile ecosystem that normally prohibits so-called “sideloading”. Apple’s walled-garden attitude has allowed it to channel almost all iOS developer revenue through its own App Store in the past. But in the EU, that moat is being removed as a result of new regulations that apply to the App Store and which the iPhone maker has had to comply with since the beginning of last month.
In March, Apple announced that web distribution rights would soon come to its mobile platform as part of changes aimed at complying with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The pan-EU regulation places a series of obligations on the tech giants involved that lawmakers hope will level the playing field for business users of the platforms, as well as protect consumers from Big Tech.
Briefing reporters on the latest developments in its EU app ecosystem on Tuesday, ahead of the official announcement, an Apple representative said that developers who want to distribute iOS apps directly will be able to exercise the right through beta version 2 of iOS 17.5.
To do so, developers will have to opt into Apple’s new EU business terms, which include a new “core technology fee” charged at €0.50 for every first annual install over 1 million in the last 12 months, without regardless of where the applications are distributed. App makers who want to avoid the fee currently have no choice but to stick with Apple’s old business terms — meaning they can’t access any of the DMA rights.
In earlier changes to the DMA, the app opened up to allow apps on the EU marketplace where developers can run their own app stores on iOS, including marketplaces consisting only of their own apps.
Additional DMA-driven reforms include greater flexibility from Apple around in-app payments; and a ban on its usual anti-management measures — meaning that iOS developers who opt into the new T&Cs can notify their users of cheaper deals available outside of Apple’s App Store.
Going back to the new web distribution option for iOS apps, Apple’s criteria for developers who want to distribute their software directly include being in good standing in its developer program; confirm that it handles matters such as IP disputes and government takedown requests; and commit to providing customer service to iOS users — since Apple won’t offer that kind of support for iOS apps downloaded outside of its App Store.
It also emphasizes that all applications distributed from the web must meet notarization requirements that it says are intended to protect the integrity of the platform.
An Apple representative described this as a basic safety and security standard that they say iOS users expect to help ensure their devices are protected from external risks.
The company continues to argue that sideloading apps carry inherent security risks for mobile users, suggesting it is trying to find a way to comply with the DMA while taking steps to limit the risks the changes create for its users.
The first time an iOS user tries to download an app from a developer’s website, they will need to authorize the developer to install apps directly on their device. Apple’s current design of the authorization flow involves multiple steps and requires users to confirm that they want to grant permission to the developer via the iOS settings menu and clicking “allow” on subsequent permission pop-ups (the other option, ie denying permission, is “ignore “).
Once they go through this multi-step process and approve the developer, all future direct downloads involve fewer steps, according to Apple.
The post-flow design shown by Apple during the briefing includes a screen informing users that “updates and purchases in this app will be managed by the developer,” combined with a suggestion to “check the information below before installing” — which appears above a tab showing some basic app information and screenshots, as well as a link to view “more” information.
Apple claims that these steps and the information that iOS displays to users during the authorization process for direct web downloads are reasonable security measures that the DMA allows gatekeepers to implement to protect the integrity of the platform.
However, critics of Apple’s approach to DMA have denounced this type of pop-up as “scare screens”, arguing that the flow it designs is designed to introduce friction and dissuade iOS users from leaving Apple’s garden – for example by implying that direct downloads are riskier than downloads through Apple’s own App Store.
Apple’s approach to a number of other elements of DMA compliance is currently under investigation by the European Commission, so at least some of this criticism has prompted EU enforcement authorities to take a closer look at its position on what the law requires.
Last month, the Commission announced it was reviewing Apple’s App Store governance rules and choice screen design for alternatives to its Safari web browser, which is another regulated core platform service under the DMA. The EU also announced some “exploratory steps” regarding Apple’s new fee structure for iOS — but for now, the new fee for the underlying technology stands.
Given that Apple has only just begun to implement web distribution for iOS apps, it remains to be seen whether the EU will step in and take a closer look at this aspect of its DMA compliance as well.
It’s also unclear how much demand there will be among iOS developers for direct web distribution. When asked about this, Apple said that it has heard from some app makers that they want to have the option, but also pointed out that it is a new feature that has just started to be available, saying that it is not certain how many developers will actually want to take advantage of the option — which it stands alongside the existing (established) and still available distribution option of the App Store.
In the EU, developers now have a third way to reach users: they can submit a market application to Apple with a request to distribute their software through their own alternative store located on its platform.