Apple’s iOS 17.4 software update was released earlier this week and, among other things, enabled support for third-party app stores in EU member states. Called by Apple “alternative app markets”, access to these third-party app stores is mandated by the new Digital Markets Act in the European Union, but no such requirement exists outside the bloc. As a result, Apple made the decision to only enable alternative app markets in the EU, leaving those elsewhere to use the App Store. But it’s not quite that simple.
As part of Apple’s enabling support for such markets, it requires users to have an EU Apple ID, while the iPhone must also be physically located in an EU country. This is to ensure that people in other parts of the world cannot gain access to third-party app stores by pretending to be in the EU, a stance that is not entirely surprising. However, the EU GPS fix requirement potentially causes problems – such as when people go on holiday.
Apple previously said it would give EU citizens a grace period where third-party app stores would continue to operate even after they leave the EU, but did not clarify how long that period would last. That’s changed today, with some clarification offered in an updated support document detailing how things will play out.
30 days and left
The updated document confirms that in order for alternative app markets to be available, “your Apple ID country or region must be set to one of the countries or regions of the European Union and you must be physically located in the European Union.” Apple notes that “a device’s eligibility for alternative app markets is determined by on-device processing with only an eligibility indicator sent to Apple,” adding that “to protect your privacy, Apple does not collect your device’s location.”
But what happens when iPhone owners leave the EU? Apple now has an answer for that too.
“If you leave the European Union, you can continue to open and use apps you previously installed from alternative app markets,” Apple begins. “Alternative app markets can continue to update those apps for up to 30 days after you leave the European Union, and you can continue to use alternative app markets to manage pre-installed apps.”
All of this seems unlikely to cause too many problems, but there is a caveat. “However, you must be in the European Union to install alternative app markets and new apps from alternative app markets,” warns Apple. This seems to suggest that as soon as an EU citizen leaves the EU, they won’t be able to install anything outside of the App Store. Whether this will be something that will bother the European Commission or not remains to be seen. After all, an EU citizen is an EU citizen after are leaving the EU.
Apple has already been accused of mocking DMA in the way it chose to respect it. These restrictions may be another example of that, but that will be decided by the European Commission. The European Commission has already asked Apple to explain why it decided to ban the account of developer Epic Games, and it seems that more conflicts could follow.