With Apple ’s illustrious walled garden continuing to crumble , the company has made yet another concession to app developers . But it turns out that not everyone will benefit .
For more than 15 old age , Apple take a firm stand that apps could only be download to the iPhone ( and later on iPad ) from its own App Store , claiming this was necessary to ensure customer did n’t by chance install malware and scam software . ( In practice , you could jailbreak an iPhone or iPad and download apps from other places , but the average drug user would n’t be willing to do this . ) That , however , is changing , at least in Europe , because the EU ’s Digital Markets Act forced Apple to support alternative app storesas of iOS 17.4 .
In fact , Appleannouncedthis hebdomad that developers will be able to bound off the app store stage altogether and pass out apps immediately to EU drug user from their websites . This selection has n’t become useable yet , but it should n’t be retentive : Apple says it will roll out in a software program update afterward this natural spring .
“ Web Distribution , ” the company state , “ will let authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to EU users directly from a website owned by the developer . Apple will provide clear developer approach to genus Apis that facilitate the distribution of their apps from the web , incorporate with organisation functionality , back up and restore users ’ apps , and more . ”
The sting in the tail is that only a very modest proportion of devs will condition for this fresh privilege . Principally , they will take to be sufficiently large . As Apple explains in itsguide to connection Distribution , this is define as ingest “ an app that had more than one million first annual installs on iOS in the EU in the anterior calendar year . ” You also need to be registered in the EU ( or have a subsidiary company in the EU ) , and to have been “ a appendage of expert standing in the Apple Developer Program ” for two continuous years … which amusingly seems to rule out Epic Games , asArs Technicapoints out .
Affecting such a small number of devs ( Ars Technica quotes Apple as saying that the one-year installs room access alone will limit it to less than one percent ) this might not seem like a big deal ; and it ’s further truthful that most users will continue to apply the officially okay installation process , not least because Apple is certain to tell them that it is the safe way to get apps . But the concessions are important because they shrink Apple ’s power to dictate terms . It will know that elevate App Store fees too mellow , or making App Store rule too rigorous , will press more developers into alternative distribution methods . And perhaps it will be motivated to make the App Store experience more drug user - well-disposed ( coughApp Store search adscough ) to advance users to keep using it .
In other words , this should be a good affair , even for those who do n’t end up availing themselves of the alternative . Although Apple probably would n’t agree .
