EU developers can forgo the App Store entirely and distribute their apps directly to iPhone users from their own websites, Apple said Tuesday. This is a significant reversal from Apple’s original rules, which required devs that wanted to skip the official App Store to place iPhone software in third-party software marketplaces.
In another major change, Apple also will allow EU developers to create app marketplaces that sell only their own software.
EU iPhone users can download apps directly from devs’ websites
The EU’s Digital Markets Act, which went into effect last week, forced Apple to allow rivals to the iPhone’s App Store and enable sideloading of third-party software. Initially, Apple’s plan for compliance required iPhone apps to be on alternative marketplaces, not directly available for download.
That requirement, which brought complaints from developers, has now been rescinded. Apple announced a change in the rules in a note to developers Tuesday.
“Web Distribution, available with a software update later this spring, will let authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to EU users directly from a website owned by the developer,” Apple said.
This means a third-party developer can put a link on its website from which iPhone users can install an application. Apps can even be distributed from online advertisements.
The dev doesn’t need to put the software in an app marketplace (and potentially share revenue with the company running the alternative app store).
The change also means that iPhone users in the European Union will need to become much more careful about what software they install on their devices. Distributing malware is about to get significantly easier.
Single-developer app catalogs, too
Another rule Apple announced in February that drew ire from EU developers was a requirement that rival app stores had to offer software from multiple companies. A game developer couldn’t create an online catalog of its own titles.
Apple also dropped that requirement in its revised rules for “alternative app marketplaces.”
“Marketplaces can choose to offer a catalog of apps solely from the developer of the marketplace,” Apple said Tuesday.
Expect large developers like Epic Games — which is locked in a bitter, yearslong legal battle with Apple over App Store rules — to choose this option.
iPhone sideloading is now much closer to actual sideloading
The new rules come much closer to what people mean by “sideloading” — installing applications directly onto a device. Apple didn’t reveal why it made these dramatic shifts. It’s possible, and indeed likely, that they resulted from pressure applied by the European Commission.
The company already announced another major change to its initial set of rules announced in February. Last week, it removed a significant financial barrier for opening a rival iPhone app store in the European Union.
To be clear, all of this is something only residents of the European Union need to be concerned about. Everyone else is still limited to Apple’s own App Store.
