2024-03-12 20:25:16
The iPhone opens to external applications: In a few weeks, EU residents will be able to download apps from websites and external stores instead of through the App Store. This news will allow iPhone users to experience thousands of new applications that were until now locked to Apple users.
This is a big change for Apple: the company has fought for years against downloading third-party apps to the iPhone, stating that such apps are not safe and that the company has the right to dictate its user experience.
As recalled earlier this week, the technology giant was ordered to pay a fine of 1.84 billion euros for abusing its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming applications for iPhone and iPad users. Apple has been accused of blocking users from downloading apps outside of its app store, thus requiring developers to pay a 30% commission.
Apple’s announcement today is the latest example of the Digital Markets Act forcing Apple to make long-lasting changes to its App Store business processes. The law aims to oblige large technology companies including Apple to open up their platforms to smaller competitors.
The online app download program will start later this spring and requires developers to meet “specific criteria” such as apps with over a million downloads in Europe. Apple will still collect a fee from the app owners, but it is expected to be lower than the high 30% fee it currently charges in the App Store and which led the lawsuit against it. Apple added that companies can also offer an iPhone app store in Europe, as long as they offer access to one company’s app.
“Distributing apps directly from a website requires responsibility and oversight of the user experience, including the ability to manage apps and provide customer support and refunds,” Apple stated on the company’s website today (Tuesday), “Apple will approve developers after meeting specific criteria and committing to ongoing requirements that help protect users.”
The vice president of the European Commission, Margaret Vestager, said that the European Commission is checking with Apple’s rivals such as Sotipay, which supported the fine that Apple received this week in the amount of 1.95 billion dollars, whether Apple is indeed meeting the requirements of the Union and allowing the restrictions on applications that are not in the company’s app store.
Apple still plans to charge a fee of fifty euro cents for app downloads outside of its app store, including web app downloads. Apple’s App Store fees are a major profit for the company: just last year, downloads provided sales of $78 billion for Apple, which said that Europe represented only 7% of its revenue.
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