Apple will allow EU users to download apps through websites

Apple said on Tuesday that its EU users will be able to download apps directly from websites, bypassing app markets, as it bowed to a new law and pressure from developers.

Apple and five other global tech giants — Google’s Alphabet, Amazon, TikTok’s ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft — have been required to comply with the EU’s key Digital Markets Act (DMA) since March 7.

The DMA is curbing the behavior of six “gatekeepers” of the online world, in an attempt to force them to open up to competition.

For Apple, that means opening up its closed ecosystem that the App Store has dominated as a mainstay of the iPhone since 2008—with an initial series of announcements in January, including allowing competing markets for the first time.

Apple announced the latest changes for developers to meet DMA requirements after an avalanche of criticism from digital companies big and small, as well as EU officials who warned they were ready to use all their tools to ensure compliance.

The first significant step is allowing developers to offer apps on Apple’s iOS operating system directly to users through their own websites.

This would effectively mean that users would not have to use Apple’s App Store or download the app through an alternative marketplace.

The change will follow a software update “later this spring,” Apple said, but it may not be easy to implement in practice.

Only developers authorized by Apple “after meeting certain criteria and committing to ongoing requirements that help protect users” will be able to do so.

Apple also said that individual developers will be able to create alternative stores to highlight their own apps – such as an online game database.

When pressed, the iPhone maker said it wanted to make it easier for developers to take advantage of DMA changes after receiving feedback.

Apple has been one of the most vocal critics of the DMA, and even slammed the law in its EU compliance report last week for the dangers it poses.

But Brussels believes it has shown Apple that it means business.

When Apple was embroiled in a spat with Epic Games last week after it blocked the Fortnite maker from developing a rival European iPhone app store, the EU said it would investigate any legal violations. Apple reversed course two days later.

© 2024 AFP