https://9to5mac.com/2024/01/25/third-party-iphone-app-stores-ios-17-4/
https://9to5mac.com/2024/01/25/third-party-default-browsers-engines/
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Bet Vivaldi is feeling dumb right now for rushing their WebKit based version. lol
To be fair, that’s the only version available to users not in the EU.
Hmm, any idea if this also applies to me with an iPhone from Chinese market that I use in the EU with EU AppStore?
True, but that makes me wonder which company would think that making a third party browser engine work in iOS is worth if it’s only gonna be available in the EU?
All of them because:
The economy of the European Union is the joint economy of the member states of the European Union (EU). It is the second largest economy in the world in nominal terms, after the United States and the third one in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, after China and the United States.
it’s so funny they’re jerking around the US courts by still having a 27% commission for purchases outside the apple IAP system, but they’re genuinely scared of the EU regulating them harder so they only charge a 50 euro cent per install for marketplaces and nothing for any apps using those third parties
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Maybe because the EU is a potential minefield for them, something they’ve learned from the warranty situation. Basically, mandatory warranty being 2 years (now 3), they tried to force people to buy an extended warranty to have any usable coverage in the second year. They got sued over it in Italy, Portugal and other countries. Each country will handle it in its own way, with different outcomes.
Its easier to play ball and thus be able to implement a standardized approach, as opposed to having to comply with specific demands from each country after they are caught trying to undermine whatever it is that they should be complying with in a reasonable manner
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With the DMA, which is the EU legislation forcing this openness, it will basically be directly **up to the European Comission **(“Government”) to impose fines (10% of global turnover). This should mean faster and better respected regulation. On contrast, GDPR enforcement is left to national bodies, with slow progress, as debate over what GDPR allows still continues.
Not only: “That does not preclude the possibility of applying to gatekeepers within the meaning of this Regulation other national rules which pursue other legitimate public interest objectives as set out in the TFEU or which pursue overriding reasons of public interest as recognised by the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘the Court of Justice’).” - Regulation - 2022/1925 - EN - EUR-Lex
Hence my point. There’s a lot of room as to what can be considered overriding public interest
Apple is going to allow alternative appstores and alternative browser engines in the EU.
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You can tell how absolutely furious Apple was when they wrote that press release, I’ve never seen anything like it before lol:
Across every change, Apple is introducing new safeguards that reduce — but don’t eliminate — new risks the DMA poses to EU users.
Apple will share new resources to help EU users understand the changes they can expect. That includes guidance to help EU users navigate complexities the DMA’s changes bring — including a less intuitive user experience — and best practices for approaching new risks associated with downloading apps and processing payments outside of the App Store.
Inevitably, the new options for developers’ EU apps create new risks to Apple users and their devices. Apple can’t eliminate those risks, but within the DMA’s constraints, the company will take steps to reduce them.
EU users will be confronted with a list of default browsers before they have the opportunity to understand the options available to them. The screen also interrupts EU users’ experience the first time they open Safari intending to navigate to a webpage.
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As expected, the new app store model appears to be an incredibly poisoned offer:
https://9to5mac.com/2024/01/26/apples-third-party-app-store-announcements/
Seems to me like they will regret this when the EU slaps them with a multi-billion-dollar fee in a couple years …
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So, there is a very loong way before we have a iOS version of Fdroid.
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Now that iOS 17.4 has been released we should keep up with possible browser or store that announce future release. The hope is to have some kind of fdroid for iOS in the future, and browsers able to work without WebKit.
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The EU shouldn’t have asked for alternative app stores, but just the ability to install apps without going through a “store”.
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Noone can see the future. Hopefully EU keeps fighting apple and making them bend the knee.
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Some further update on the discussion: Apple to update EU browser options, make more apps deletable
Summary:
The article discusses how Apple is further adapting iOS offerings in response to the EU DMA. As part of these changes, Apple will make certain apps and features that were previously non-deletable by users now removable. This will allow users to uninstall Apple’s default apps. The specific apps that will become deletable include Safari and other pre-installed software (such as Camera and Photos), making the device experience more customizable for users in the EU.
This hopefully allows a better integration of third-party apps into the iOS ecosystem when replacing Apple’s default apps (e.g., background-sync for photos, cloud drives). As I understand this only applies to EU users at the moment.