Apple announces support for alternative app marketplaces, web browser engines in the EU with iOS 17.4

www.macstories.net Apple Details How It Plans to Comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act

Today, Apple announced how it intends to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which the European Commission says applies to the App Store. There are a lot of details to cover, but in summary, radical change is coming to the EU App Store, but only in the EU. Let’s take a look at how

Updated the link to a better source that gives a more detailed overview.

Apple @lemmy.world

Apple announces support for alternative app marketplaces, web browser engines in the EU with iOS 17.4

www.macstories.net /news/apple-details-how-it-plans-to-comply-with-the-eus-digital-markets-act/

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Apple @lemmy.ml

Apple announces support for alternative app marketplaces, web browser engines in the EU with iOS 17.4

www.macstories.net /news/apple-details-how-it-plans-to-comply-with-the-eus-digital-markets-act/

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39 comments

Headlines like this should be illegal.
Apple is forced by the EU to stop being a dick and open up their ecosystem. Apple is also purposefully making the experience so terrible that nobody will dare use it.
I hope the EU sues and bankrupts them.
- Don't get me wrong, I hope the EU _{slaps Apple on the wrist} beats Apple up until they properly allow sideloading without the user having to go through more hoops than activating it with a warning and be done with it. Without any other consequences.
  But I'd hate if Apple went bankrupt. Leaving only one major player in the mobile OS market? No thanks.
  
  I cannot imagine a disaster large enough to bankrupt Apple at this point. They're one of the largest and most cash rich companies on the planet. They could probably start burning literal dollars to heat their offices and still take years to go bankrupt.
  More competition in the mobile OS market would certainly be good, but I'm hesitant to even call Apple that. Their OS runs on exactly 2 devices (iPhone and iPad) from 1 manufacturer, it's not exactly an Apples (heh) to Apples comparison to Android. These days the only other option I'm aware of though is the various Linux phone projects, but all of those have some pretty serious usability problems so they're hardly a real competitor.
  
  You know what will happen? I do. Apple will leave Europe
  Want side loading? Buy android. That’s your choice.
- Apple is testing the limits but will finally comply with the regulation by opening without gatekeeping.
  They try of it pass, it pass and if it doesn't, they comply.
- Doesn't make a difference as everybody save the stans knows the subtext
  Sue them? Based on what?
  
  Very few who read the headline will even know the EU exists. So yes it's needed.
  And the EU should sue as they have before for anticompetitive practices against many corporations for doing the very same thing. That's how the EU works and it actually produces change unlike the shitty USA.

Apple is not offering these changes outside of the EU because this is not the safest system for our users.
I almost spilled my drink. Apple should do stand-up comedy.

In before accessing this new app store disables face unlock, NFC, the fingerprint sensor, and voids your warranty.
- The update will also open up NFC access to alternative payment apps.
  Apple does make it very clear that they're being forced to do so by law, though, so don't expect these changes to come out of the EU anytime soon.

Can’t wait to try a real Firefox (with Gecko) on iOS. Maybe it will be better than Safari in some regards, maybe not. But it will be nice to have more than one option to choose from.
- Ublock in firefox on ios goes brrr

Yet again, we lack the only detail anyone actually cares about: how does Apple plan on actually limiting this functionality to the EU?
It’s difficult for me to imagine how they can comply with this but only for EU customers in a manner which can’t be easily circumvented. It kind of bothers me that journalists just parrot “these changes will not be coming to jurisdictions outside of the EU” uncritically, seemingly just completely taking for granted the idea that there’s not going to be any way to benefit from this if you don’t live in the EU.
- Devices are very strictly controlled on a hardware level for the market they are designed to operate in. It's a requirement to obtain licensing for management of radio spectrum.
  It's trivial for iOS to check the internal hardware of any phone, see that it is an EU export model with all of thr Apple DRM active so you can't fake it, and adjust accordingly.
  
  Sure but they're also sold secondhand. Also people can be born in one country, but move to live in another one... bringing their devices with them. Apple's DRM can't be tied to hardware.
  Also - what if a user doesn't have an account with Apple at all? How can Apple know what country they're from? Signing up for an Apple ID is optional when you setup an iPhone - you only really need one to access the App Store and there are now alternative methods available to install apps in the EU.
  There are different antennas on different devices, but all of them generally work everywhere in the world - it worst your bandwidth might be a bit lower.
- Two ways:
  Software Country and Region
  By extending the country-specific models Apple already manufactures. For example, Chinese models can shut off WiFi access to any app, and this is only present in Chinese models and can't be changed with the software Country and Region switch.
- Yeah that's what I'm curious about. I have a US apple account because that's where I'm from, but I live in the EU and don't really wanna change accounts or screw with anything.
- i think it would be rather trivial for them to restrict features to secure (not rooted) devices connecting to eu towers via eu carriers (perhaps also owned by eu customers)
  
  Not super familiar with EU law, but it was my understanding that a company that wants to be allowed to operate in the EU can’t just start violating an EU citizen’s EU granted rights just because aren’t literally geographically inside the EU at the time of the rights violation.
  In other words, it’s my understanding that Apple would be liable for damages if, for instance, an EU citizen on vacation suddenly lost access to alternative app stores and such.
  
  But you can use iPads and iPhones without a SIM card? I don't think it's trivial at all.

Coming from apple, this means nothing.

So, the .5 per annual install for alternative marketplaces seems to be the stop gap, right? A popular FOSS store like f-droid would have to cough up thousands of Euros.
Would it be possible to sell an alternative marketplace for 1 Euro on the app store, pay Apple's purchase commission and use the rest for the annual install fee?
- Apple may think they're complying with the letter of the law but I suspect the EU will feel they're falling far far short of the moral of the law.
- They are also apparently requiring a €1,000,000 letter of credit for alternative app stores devs.
  https://9to5mac.com/2024/01/25/apple-says-third-party-app-marketplace-creators-must-have-e1000000-letter-of-credit/
  
  Oh, so THAT is the real stop sign they put in front of FOSS marketplaces. Thanks for the link!
- A popular FOSS store like f-droid would have to cough up thousands of Euros.
  They're probably not big enough. This only applies to apps that are on 2% of all iPhones in the EU. It also doesn't apply to non-profits. If f-droid is that big, they probably should be a non-profit.
- That fee also applies to apps published on the app store.
  If I understand correctly it only affects apps with more than 1 million annual downloads. I also don't think it applies to marketplaces, only apps. So if fdroid had a marketplace, the devs would pay that fee and not fdroid.
  https://developer.apple.com/support/core-technology-fee/
  
  https://9to5mac.com/2024/01/25/apple-says-third-party-app-marketplace-creators-must-have-e1000000-letter-of-credit/
  This article says that the fee applies to every installation of a marketplace.

By the way, I read that it's in the EU. The regulation applies in the EEA (EU+Norway+Iceland+Liechtenstein).

Not clear what would happen with in-app purchases.

39 comments