App Store to Be 'Split in Two' Ahead of EU iPhone Sideloading Deadline
Apple is preparing to split the App Store "in two" in the coming weeks ahead of European Union requirements that will force Apple to enable app sideloading in the region, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that Apple is gearing up to make changes to the App Store in the EU to comply with the region's impending Digital Markets Act (DMA). Apple is apparently planning to roll out adjustments to comply with the new legal requirements in the coming weeks, including splitting off the App Store in the EU from the rest of the world. The deadline for Apple to comply with the DMA is March 7, so the company has just over seven weeks to enact the changes.
Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook met the European Union's antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, at Apple Park. Vestager reminded Cook of Apple's impending obligation to allow users to install third-party app stores and sideload apps under the DMA. Apple will also be obliged to give developers the ability to promote their offers outside the App Store and use third-party payment systems. The DMA is expected to force Apple to make a range of significant changes to the way the App Store, FaceTime, and Siri work in Europe.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Popular Stories
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
Apple has previously announced three new iOS features that it said are coming to the iPhone later this year, as outlined below. The new features include the ability to install iPhone apps on the web in the EU, RCS support in the Messages app, and next-generation CarPlay. Web Distribution Apple recently announced that eligible developers will soon be able to distribute their iOS apps to ...
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models concurrently, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
iOS 18 will feature a revamped Home Screen that is "more customizable," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He revealed this information in his Power On newsletter today, but he did not provide any specific details. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple will announce iOS 18 at its annual developers conference WWDC in June. Other features and changes rumored for...
We're getting closer to the launch of new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, while rumors about iOS 18 are continuing to ramp up with this week's surprise revelation that Apple has been talking to Google and others about potentially helping power the generative AI features expected to be a major part of this year's update. Other news this week saw the release of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1...
Top Rated Comments
And if you want to install apps exclusively through the App Store, nothing prevents you from doing that, does it?
It's just more choice for you, the user. You don't have to change anything if you don't want to.
How exactly is that a bad thing for you?
And by the way, Apple has done an extremely bad job at preventing malicious and fake apps in the past.
How are so many people that love to go on about the importance of freedom so hell-bent on defending the corset Apple forces them into?
I guess too many people drank the Apple Kool-Aid.
I bought an iPhone, in large part, for the security and convenience of all apps coming from a single verifying source.
Now it’s going to become the same Balkanized nonsense that Android is.
Thanks, Europe.
You chose to embrace the walled garden by buying Apple. Now all of us are going to be forced to endure multiple different app sources with varying and unknown security.
Some apps will not submit to the App Store in order to drive all sales to their outside store to increase profits.
Others apps will stay outside to avoid Apple review process. Bugs and deliberate surveillance will run rampant.
Fake apps will proliferate outside with no oversight.
Welcome to your diminished privacy and acct security world.
Big mistake EU. Big.