iPhone opens up to external apps: European Union residents will soon 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 apps that were previously locked out of the App Store.
This is a major breakthrough for Apple: the company has been fighting for years against the downloading of external apps to the iPhone, claiming that such apps are not safe and that it is the company's right to dictate its user experience.
As previously reported earlier this week, a technology giant was fined 1.84 billion euros for abusing its dominant market position in distributing music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users. Apple was accused of locking users out of the ability to download apps outside of its app store, thus forcing developers to pay a 30% commission.
Today's announcement by Apple is the latest example of the Digital Markets Act forcing Apple to make sustainable changes over time in its App Store business processes. The law is designed to require large technology companies including Apple to open up their platforms to smaller competitors.
The internet app download program will start later in the spring and will require developers to meet "specific criteria" such as apps with over a million downloads in Europe. Apple will still charge a fee to app owners, but it is expected to be lower than the current 30% fee charged in the App Store that led to lawsuits against it. Apple added that companies can also offer iPhone app stores in Europe as long as they provide access to one company's app.
"Distributing apps directly from the site requires responsibility and supervision 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 commitment to continuous requirements that help protect users."
The Deputy European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, said that the European Commission is checking with Apple's competitors such as Spotify, which supported the fine Apple received this week of $1.95 billion, whether Apple is indeed complying with EU requirements and lifting restrictions on apps that are not in the company's app store.
Apple still plans to charge a fee of fifty cents for app downloads outside its app store, including downloads of internet apps. Apple's App Store fees are a central source of revenue for the company: just last year, app downloads generated $78 billion in sales for Apple, which stated that Europe accounts for only 7% of its revenues.