Apple is about to open up the iPhone to alternative app stores. Yes, that's the sound of ice forming in a very, very hot place.
Apple Announces MAJOR Changes to the App Store in iOS 17.4 (Alt App Stores, Default Browsers, and More)
Just a year ago, this kind of change seemed impossible. Apple has held out for so long, against so much pressure, that there must be a very good reason to open up its completely closed platform. And guess what? There is a good reason: the European Union.
"This is a new regulatory push from the European Union. Apple has been adamantly opposed to opening up its devices to third-party apps since the launch of the iPhone," Ben Michael, an attorney at Michael and Associates, told Lifewire via email. "Users will have access to many more apps than before. Most of these will be smaller apps with niche uses rather than large mass-market apps, but this still opens up many business and IT applications."
Apple may be the biggest company in the world, and it may be American, but the European Union is still more powerful, as it should be. This shift, reported by extremely well-documented Apple reporter Mark Gurman but not yet confirmed by Apple, is thanks to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, a piece of regulation that, among other things, requires more open platforms and interoperability of services like messaging apps.
