Apple officially revealed that starting in March 2024, users in the European Union will have more options when it comes to where they can buy and download apps on their iPhones.
The iPhone’s ongoing popularity arguably owes itself to the introduction of the Apple App Store in 2008, which opened the door to installing and using third-party apps on the device.
To date, going through Apple has been the only way iPhone users can download apps, with the company claiming its moderated App Store helps keep users safe and protected from malicious programs.
Apple also gets a cut from apps sold through its App Store, frustrating some developers like Epic Games, maker of the popular game Fortnite, which was banned from the App Store for allowing players to purchase in-game items outside of Apple’s payment systems.
U.S. courts largely ruled in Apple’s favor in a case against Epic, quashing hopes of a third-party app store but allowing developers to link to outside payment methods within their apps, but the company will be making some big changes to iOS to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union (EU), which first started being enforced in May of 2023.
Starting in March, iPhone users in the European Union will be able to download “alternative app marketplaces” (as Apple is now referring to third-party app stores) from a website, but only those that have been pre-approved by Apple for use on the iPhone (the requirements for approval are reportedly strict, according to communication acquired by 9to5Mac).
Users will need to give the marketplace permission to install apps on their device and will also have the option to make it the default place to buy apps on their iPhones over Apple’s App Store.
To continue to help protect iPhone users from malware, scams and illicit content, apps bought on third-party marketplaces will be subjected to a notarization process (which Apple describes as a “combination of automated checks and human review”).
Developers also won’t be able to distribute different versions of an app through multiple marketplaces. For the first time, developers in the EU can also choose to use a third-party in-app payment system instead of using Apple’s, avoiding the need to pay a cut to the iPhone maker.
Developers who do stick with Apple face an “additional 3 percent fee” for payment processing.
Apple is introducing some fee changes to compensate for the potential loss in app revenue, including a new “Core Technology Fee” where “apps distributed from the App Store and/or an alternative app marketplace” will be subjected to a €0.50 (~$0.54) fee every time they’re installed, but only after the app already has 1 million annual installs under its belt.
While Epic Game’s original case against Apple didn’t make much headway — even Apple’s solution for allowing outside payments doesn’t change much for developers — it is possible that the U.S. might eventually reconsider its approach to the App Store, given a much more critical decision courts reached when determining whether Google’s similar Play Store constitutes a monopoly.
(themessenger.com)
