Apple is Bringing Sideloading and Alternate App Stores To the iPhone (theverge.com) 104
The iPhone's app ecosystem is about to go through its biggest shake-up since the App Store launched in 2008. Today, Apple announced how it plans to change the rules for developers releasing iOS software in the European Union in response to the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA) coming into force in March. The big news is that third-party app stores will be allowed on iOS for the first time, breaking the Apple App Store's position as the sole distributor of iPhone apps. The changes will arrive with iOS 17.4 in March. From a report: Here's how the new "alternative app marketplaces," as Apple called them, will work. Users in the EU and on iOS 17.4 will be able to download a marketplace from that marketplace's website. In order to be used on an iPhone, those marketplaces have to go through Apple's approval process, and once you download one, you have to explicitly give it permission to download apps to your device. But once the marketplace is approved and on your device, you can download anything you want -- including apps that violate App Store guidelines. You can even set a non-App Store marketplace as the default on your device.
Developers, meanwhile, can choose whether to use Apple's payment services and in-app purchases or integrate a third-party system for payments without paying an additional fee to Apple. If the developer wants to stick with Apple's existing in-app payment system, there's an additional 3 percent processing fee. Apple still plans to keep a close eye on the app distribution process. All apps must be "notarized" by Apple, and distribution through third-party marketplaces is still managed by Apple's systems. Developers will only be allowed to distribute a single version of their app across different app stores, and they'll still have to abide by some basic platform requirements, like getting scanned for malware. Apple says that anyone looking to develop an alternative app marketplace will have to provide evidence that it can financially "guarantee support for developers and customers." Apple wants "a stand-by letter of credit from an A-rated (or equivalent by S&P, Fitch, or Moody's) financial Institution of 1 million Euro prior to receiving the entitlement. It will need to be auto-renewed on a yearly basis."
Developers, meanwhile, can choose whether to use Apple's payment services and in-app purchases or integrate a third-party system for payments without paying an additional fee to Apple. If the developer wants to stick with Apple's existing in-app payment system, there's an additional 3 percent processing fee. Apple still plans to keep a close eye on the app distribution process. All apps must be "notarized" by Apple, and distribution through third-party marketplaces is still managed by Apple's systems. Developers will only be allowed to distribute a single version of their app across different app stores, and they'll still have to abide by some basic platform requirements, like getting scanned for malware. Apple says that anyone looking to develop an alternative app marketplace will have to provide evidence that it can financially "guarantee support for developers and customers." Apple wants "a stand-by letter of credit from an A-rated (or equivalent by S&P, Fitch, or Moody's) financial Institution of 1 million Euro prior to receiving the entitlement. It will need to be auto-renewed on a yearly basis."
FOSS is still banned then (Score:3, Interesting)
If they take â1,000,000 then we won't be seeing the equivalent of the F-Droid app store for free, open source apps. It's just pick your poison of commercial app stores.
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the main improvements in free non-open source solitaire apps for Android has been the amount of ads and tracking and the download sizes the come with frequent updates of ad tracking keys.
Re:FOSS is still banned then (Score:4, Informative)
There are some excellent apps on F-Droid, many of which are not allowed on Google Play for various reasons.
F-Droid also warns you if they require any non-free services, and most are ad/tracking free.
Off the top of my head...
DNS66 (and blocking)
aFreeRDP (remote desktop client)
Audile (music recognition like Shazam)
Easy Noise (various types of noise)
Joplin (note taking)
Migraine Log (offline pain diary)
Antimine (minesweeper game that doesn't make you guess)
Newpipe (YouTube front end)
Organic Maps (Open Street Map based)
Voice (audiobook player)
WiFi Analyser
All of those are ad and tracker free, and of course fully open source.
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You listed several of my main apps. Here are some more:
Amaze (file manager)
AntennaPod (podcast player)
Aurora Store (download gratis apps from Google Play without a Google account)
Fabularium (play text adventures in a variety of formats)
GApps Browser (a sandbox browser for web apps like Google Docs)
K-9 Mail (email client)
KDE Connect (connect to other devices on the same local network, share files, and lots more)
Librera Reader (e-book reader)
Pedometer
QR & Barcode Scanner
SlimSocial (tiny app to sandbox Fac
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I use KDE connect, but I installed it from the Play Store. I didn't even realize it was on F-Droid!
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There are some excellent apps on F-Droid, many of which are not allowed on Google Play for various reasons.
Wait, what? That's unpossible!
Re:FOSS is still banned then (Score:4, Insightful)
Seems like an outfit like Mozilla could do it. Heck, I might pay for a EFF app store of known safe apps.
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It's no good if Mozilla control it. We need the option to fork or build our own if we don't like the way it is run.
Clearly it's not practical for the EFF to fund that either.
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Seems like an outfit like Mozilla could do it. Heck, I might pay for a EFF app store of known safe apps.
I'd personally love to see Google have an IOS app store.
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Not sure if they should run it, but Mozilla definitely need to move to one of those alternate stores, so Firefox on iOS can use Gecko.
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I wonder how distributing appstores on appstores will go.
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Yes. It is clearly a change just for the purpose of appeasing regulators.
BUT... most iThing users don't want it changed. They don't want a million different apps by a thousand different developers that do the same thing. They just want things to work they way they do now. That's why they bought an iThing: consistency and ease-of-use (and of course peer pressure to fit in).
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You are literally arguing against an opt-in feature that allows more user freedom, but only if the individual user cares.
There is no reason to complain about this, unless you are Apple and want to generate the largest amount of revenue possible, even at user expense and additional regulatory scrutiny. That's what we call "stupid."
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You are literally arguing against an opt-in feature that allows more user freedom, but only if the individual user cares.
I am not arguing against anything. I agreed with AmiMojo that Apple's actions seem mostly a performance for regulatory compliance rather than a real change. I also pointed out that for most Apple users, change is not desired.
Anything beyond that is you projecting your feelings and insecurities.
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Maybe I'm missing something here, but is there a particular reason that open source applications would need to be on a third-party app store?
We already have things like VLC and Signal on the official app store. The only thing that comes to mind as not being distributable in the current store is browsers.
Re: FOSS is still banned then (Score:3)
Yes. Ad blockers, emulators, and pretty much anything else that is useful but in some way competes with or interferes with Apple's business model.
There's also a subtle thing in here that a lot of people seem to have missed: Apple's rules here require that there can only be one version of any particular app on *any* store. So for example, if your app violates the app store rules, then you have a choice to make: Either have your app on the official app store with all of Apple's rules and restrictions in place
Say what now (Score:1)
Yes. Ad blockers, emulators
You can get ad blockers on the app store [google.com]
in some way competes with or interferes with Apple's business model.
Stopped reading from there on since you don't seem to have any clue about anything.
Seems like you have once again confused Apple for Google; Apple of course does not rely on ads whatsoever.
Re: Say what now (Score:2)
Be honest with yourself: You stopped reading because you don't like hearing anything bad about Apple.
So yeah I'll concede that apple allows that now, though they didn't back when I had an iPhone, you literally had to jailbreak to block iAd. Though I see iAd was a flop, so makes sense that they wouldn't care after it failed. Nevertheless, everything else I said remains valid.
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Be honest with yourself: You stopped reading because you don't like hearing anything bad about Apple.
I see bad stuff about Apple all the time. I also point it out myself.
The fact is (which you don't even deny) is that you were totally wrong. So why would anything else you say not be equally flawed?
I'll let you have the last response since by your own admission, nothing you say is true so it's pointless to read anything you write.
Re: Say what now (Score:2)
The fact is (which you don't even deny) is that you were totally wrong. So why would anything else you say not be equally flawed?
Because unlike you, I don't argue based on flawed reasoning.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]
Sure, I made a factual error, but you're making a logical error.
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Re: FOSS is still banned then (Score:1)
I use an ad blocker for Safari on my iPhone, downloaded from Appleâ(TM)s App Store.
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The office stores have certain limits in place that can mean some features of open source apps have to be disabled, or the whole app is not allowed at all. DNS66 is a good example - booted off Google Play, but still available on F-Droid. GPSLogger has some more detail as to why they gave up on being in the Play store:
https://github.com/mendhak/gps... [github.com]
The reason why you want an app store and not just downloading apps from Github or wherever they are published is so that you get automatic updates.
Doubtless the
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Third party app stores on iOS will not be as unrestrictive. Apps will still need to adhere to Apple's technical requirements in order to get notarized [macrumors.com]. Emulators (still) violate the "executable code" provision, for example.
So anything that was unacceptable to run on the Apple app store for technical reasons will still be unacceptable on third-party stores. The only real difference is that Apple won't be enforcing content restrictions, or making sure apps aren't just straight-up lousy (e.g. quality and conte
Alternative browser engines is EU only? will they (Score:2)
Alternative browser engines is EU only? will they have to pay the install fee and have to make the choice of EU store or global store webkit only?
so will firefox and chrome app become EU only?
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There is nothing about browser engines in this news ... learn to read.
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I can read, thank you. Firefox can't use Gecko because the AppStore forbids it. If they go with a different store, there is no restriction and can use any engine.
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If they use a different store: you still can not install an alternative browser.
Has nothing to do with the store.
And why would anyone want a browser that sucks the battery dry in 3 minutes: is beyond me.
A diesel car does not run on gasoline, you have to feed it diesel.
Usually no one complains. Only Apple haters make an issue that there is only one browser and one JS engine on apple devices. What the fuck do you care about that?
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You are misinformed. https://www.macrumors.com/2024... [macrumors.com]
3rd party browser engines will be allowed in the EU on 3rd party app stores. Now why you might want a 3rd party engine? Well probably because you have sites that just don't work in safari. I love safari and I use it every day on my MacBook and my iPhone, yet I still have to have chrome installed because things just often do not work properly in safari.
Re: Alternative browser engines is EU only? will t (Score:1)
Why would I want a different web browser? You know that leads down the road to having to use Chrome. Iâ(TM)ve been Google free for some time and I donâ(TM)t want to change that. I donâ(TM)t want Googleâ(TM)s view of how the web should be. I donâ(TM)t want to install Google software that then has more access to my data than they can get from the sandbox of a private Safari browser window.
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Why would I want a different web browser?
Because firefox is good. Better than Safari and it doesn't even spam "smart quotes" where it isn't supposed to. Just sayin'
Re: Alternative browser engines is EU only? will (Score:1)
I stopped using FF years ago and I donâ(TM)t think Iâ(TM)ll go back. Too many weak excuses for not making important engineering changes (how long did it take them to implement the Electrolysis project?) yet they constantly made the UI worse and worse.
What is interesting is that I canâ(TM)t use my countryâ(TM)s currency symbol last I checked in FF. I can using the macOS version of Safari because it allows me to change the pageâ(TM)s character encoding from UTF-8 to latin1 or someth
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commission for non apple pay so need open books to (Score:2)
commission for non apple pay so they need to open books their books to apple for apple to audit? Will the EU be ok with that?
annual app install fee even for free apps? will th (Score:2)
annual app install fee even for free apps? will the dev fee drop to zero an year?
Will firefox and chrome pay that to be able to exit webkit?
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Chrome will pay almost anything, because they make that money back by sending people to google search.
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Their rule about one version for all stores is the poison pill.
Chrome won't exit the US store so it can't work right on an alt- EU store.
This rule is seemingly aimed at causing EU citizens economic harm.
Or maybe I'm wrong and they're just trying to skirt EU law.
What do you think?
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Is there something about the US version that's non-EU-legal that can't be handled by location-based behavior changes in the code?
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This rule is seemingly aimed at causing EU citizens economic harm.
And what would that harm be?
I'm harmed, as I'm an EU citizen an live in Thailand. So I probably need a VPN to benefit from the new rules.
Doesn't that fee (Score:2)
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Firefox can build with WebKit and with Gecko. The Gecko version had a different name (Firefox-Gecko or Firefox EU) and is distributed only from 3rd party stores. Apparently they do work on this [theregister.com] for a while.
Up next (Score:4, Insightful)
1000 flashlight apps that mine crypto and serve ads on the lock screen.
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People can be tricked into installing malicious software on small computing devices. Education and vigilance needed. Film at 11!
Re:Up next (Score:5, Insightful)
And this is different from any other computer or device an iPhone or iPad user touches how? Maybe users should take even the slightest bit of personal responsibility for the software they install on their devices, like they have to do with Windows / macOS / Linux / Android devices?
You always have the option of not installing shit from a non-Apple app store. In fact, that's the absolute easiest thing to do, because it requires you to do absolutely nothing to accomplish that configuration.
What a dumb fucking non-problem.
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And this is different from any other computer or device an iPhone or iPad user touches how? Maybe users should take even the slightest bit of personal responsibility for the software they install on their devices, like they have to do with Windows / macOS / Linux / Android devices?
You always have the option of not installing shit from a non-Apple app store. In fact, that's the absolute easiest thing to do, because it requires you to do absolutely nothing to accomplish that configuration.
What a dumb fucking non-problem.
So what pray tell do you base your wisdom on which allows you to chose which apps to install or not. And if it's simply to not install any apps, why are you in this discussion?
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Why are you expecting me to tell you how to evaluate what to install on your device or not? Why is that my decision, or Apple's decision, instead of YOUR decision? An why is it Apple's decision on only 3 out of 4 of their product lines?
Why are you thinking about this exactly backwards? Do you have some kind of Stockholm syndrome?
Anyway, to answer your question in the only reasonable possible answer: YOU get to choose what app to install based on YOUR needs and concerns, instead of choosing what app to in
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Re:Up next (Score:5, Interesting)
It sounds like Apple wants to exert as much control as possible on these third party marketplaces by requiring Apple approval for them. I'm sure that they'll make the approval process as difficult as the EU legally allows as well.
In other words, it's not going to be as easy as getting someone to click a checkbox to download 3rd party applications under developer settings and give them a download link to whatever the iOS equivalent of a .apk file is to install malware.
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Of course they will. The wording of the law is "allow third parties to inter-operate with the gatekeeperâ(TM)s own services in certain specific situations"
Note "in certain specific situations" The EU is the one dictating those situations and thus dictating the approval process Apple must follow.
So where is the list of specific situations? If they don't list them, they very literally don't dictate them.
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In other words: you are mixing up the user of a third part app store with the developer who uploads his software there.
FACEPALM
Is that in addition (Score:2)
Apple doesn't police the store in the slightest, they just make damn sure they get their cut. They're less about law & order and more like the Mafia.
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None of Apple's business.
Apple has no business if someone decides to install 1000 flashlight apps that mine crypto on their phones via sideloading or from an alternative app store.
Re:Up next (Score:4, Insightful)
Seems unlikely, when you look at how it has worked for Android.
You have a few manufacturer app stores, like Samsung and Amazon. Then you have free software ones like F-Droid. Regardless, Google Play scans apps for malware, if you have it installed.
Crypto mining is pointless even on a desktop GPU these days, let alone a phone. And besides, the OS will kill the app before it can do any useful work, to save battery.
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Seems unlikely, when you look at how it has worked for Android.
You have a few manufacturer app stores, like Samsung and Amazon. Then you have free software ones like F-Droid. Regardless, Google Play scans apps for malware, if you have it installed.
Crypto mining is pointless even on a desktop GPU these days, let alone a phone. And besides, the OS will kill the app before it can do any useful work, to save battery.
Yep, biggest problem are apps that try to siphon all your private data, this already happens on Apple products but we're not supposed to say that.
Aside from that the quality of apps are so terrible these days that I try to use my browser for anything I can. Especially given the number of extensions Firefox on Android now supports. My phone runs like butter and has a multi-day battery life because I don't shove every app and it's dog on there.
I've been trying to find a replacement for Google Feed (news
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"But that was in 2018, nobody would do that in 2024, let alone voluntarily!" 15 Best Free Crypto Mining Apps For Android in 2024 [transferxo.com] - but the good news is, these apps likely do nothing. Or actually something else. Just proves there still is a huge problem on Android.
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It's all good since Apple will still be getting their 30% cut. That's all they ultimately care about. When things go south they can just (justifiably) blame the EU government.
I'm just glad I'm staying on Android and using F-Droid as my sole non-Google Play Store source of apps. But I am very conservative in what I actually install and use.
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Notarization for iOS apps is a baseline review that applies to all apps, regardless of their distribution channel, focused on platform policies for security and privacy and to maintain device integrity. Through a combination of automated checks and human review, Notarization will help ensure apps are free of known malware, viruses, or other security threats, function as promised, and don’t expose users to egregious fraud. Information from the Notarization process is also used for app installation sheets, which provide at-a-glance descriptions of apps and their functionality before users download, including the developer, screenshots, and other essential information. Apps distributed on the App Store will continue to be responsible for meeting Apple’s high standards for user safety, security, and privacy and undergo the standard App Review process, including Notarization and enforcement of content and commerce policies.
It's going to be a win-win (Score:2)
Either it will become popular, and users will have choices, finally.
... or, it will fail miserably, either because of lack of use, or of abuse/malware, in which case Apple will be happy to say "Told you so!"
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i guess its a win-win if you count the users winning in one scenario vs the massive corporation winning in the other. but with that logic you could call every football game a win-win.. one team wins either way lol
EU will sue (Score:1)
Once enough people download shitty, scammy apps from wherever, the EU will sue Apple, claiming that it is somehow responsible for enabling it.
Anything to pad its budget....
Weird asymmetry (Score:2)
Assume Apple comes with a new Xbox game and wants to distribute on Xbox. They will be required to pay like $15 for each copy downloaded to Xbox. Now Microsoft comes out with a new iPhone game and wants to distribute to iPhone. Apple may charge like $10 per game and now Microsoft will cry monopoly.
Forcing Apple to open up App Store without requiring MS, Sony, Nintendo is plain stupid.
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But I agree, it's a silly distinction (between game consoles and smartphones/tablets/laptop
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While I totally agree with both the substance and the sentiment, unfortunately I'm sure the various regulations and laws being expressed here make distinctions between devices we would nominally call smartphones and tablets, and other devices that would also benefit from these new rules such as gaming consoles and set top boxes (Roku, AppleTV, Android TV, Amazon "Fire" devices, shitty cable STBs, etc.)
Basically they're pissed at Apple and narrowed it as much as they could to not make it glaringly obvious th
I don't get it. (Score:2)
Owning an iPhone comes with a certain set of rules. If you don't want to abide by those rules, don't buy an iPhone.
I like having one app store. One place to see what I bought and which subscriptions I have so I can easily cancel them.
Now if I have the choice of using the Apple app store OR another app store, I would be fine with that. But that's not what's going to happen. Some developers will just completely leave the app store and will force me to use another store or their own store they create. That's g
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Eventually, your first several screens of apps will all be app stores to support the few useful apps you did install.
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Nothing is stopping any of those companies from doing that to Android customers, except for all the reasons that are stopping them from doing that for Android customers. Oddly, there's also very little of that happening literally anywhere with the exception of Windows video games where there is a handful of "app stores" but really only 3 or 4.
In fact, Amazon actually DOES run their own app store for Android, yet their apps are still available on Google Play. Wouldn't they be the best positioned to do what
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Actually, no one needs App stores. You only need an URL, your browser could go there, you just could download it, exactly as you do on: macOS/OS X, Windows, and Linux etc.
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It's Amazon's service, they should be able to dictate what app their services are rendered through. It's the same logic you are applying to Apple with the whole "Don't like it, don't use an iPhone" thing
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If some other company decides to make a user-surly decision such as making their app only available from their app store, and that's a significant inconvenience to you, you should probably let that company know that they're making a user-surly decision that will result in you not using that company's service any more instead of bitching about Apple being forced to be less anticompetitive.
TL;DR: if ${DEVELOPER} forces you onto some 3rd party store, that's the fault of ${DEVELOPER} for making a shitty user ex
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Perhaps you are confused because you think you are the customer in this scenario. You are not. The app developer is Apple's customer, not you. App developers want options, and as of now, they have exactly two realistic options: iOS and Android. And if they really want their app to be widely used, they have to be on both platforms. But both platforms charge developers exorbitant fees, particularly if they want to provide in-app purchases. THIS is why it's such a big deal. You and I are just pawns in this gam
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Except:
they do not charge an exorbitant fee.
They charge 30% - both.
So: you buy an App for $1 - the Store gets 30 cents.
The store manages: billing, payment, payout to the developer, reversal of the sale if the customer wishes so, subscriptions and the cancelation of the subscription, in app advertizement, payout on on that, malware checking, disclosure of privacy policy, etc. p.p.
If you think you can sell your own software from your own web site cheaper, good luck. You would not even be able to handle the cr
Re: I don't get it. (Score:2)
All I'd that stuff is automatic. It costs Apple $0.0000001.
They have roughly a ten million% markup. You're being fleeced and defending it LOL
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A credit card payment processing is not 0.000001 dollar or cent
And reverting a sale and giving the money back to the customer is not 0.000001 dollar or cent either.
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People like you focus on the actual price of the app. That's not the problem. The problem is Apple's fees on in-app purchases, even if you sell those things completely outside of the Apple ecosystem (i.e., through your own web site).
The going rate from *other* vendors (like Shopify) charge for billing, payment, payout, reversal, is less than 3%. So yes, 30% is exorbitant.
If they want to charge 30% for apps, I'm fine with that. It's the in-app purchases that galls me.
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The problems with billing and refunds etc. are the same.
I agree that an App vendor should be able to do in app purchases without any involvement of Apple.
So sideloading is still not allowed? (Score:4, Interesting)
Seems like Apple is saying alternate app stores are allowed but only under unacceptable conditions. And sideloading is still not allowed.
I wonder how Apple is allowed to enforce the provision that an app can only be offered on one store? I would think that condition would be illegal. Would Apple be allowed to tell an app author that they can only offer an app on the Apple App Store if they promise to not offer a similar app on the Google Play Store?
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Seems like Apple is saying alternate app stores are allowed but only under unacceptable conditions. And sideloading is still not allowed.
As long as Apple can prevent me from putting what I want on my own phone, then the "alternate app stores" are useless.
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You are reading it wrong. It said that an app can be provided on any app store but it has to be the same version of the app on all stores. So if you are providing an app through 2 stores, both stores must be updated with the same app version. I guess this is tied to the apps being 'notarized' (signed?) by Apple and that it is still Apple systems that will distribute the app. I guess the new stores will be working by using Apple API to distribute the apps and to update them as well. Apple is trying to
Re: So sideloading is still not allowed? (Score:1)
Surely the notarisation thing is more about the device permitting things to run and being able to revoke this. Theyâ(TM)ll be able to trace misleading apps back to their misbehaving developers and revoke their ability to deploy things too.
Steam? (Score:2)
I wonder if this will be a tempting target for steam.
Ugh (Score:2)
As far as freedom and choice go, this is undoubtedly the right direction to be going.
But I am not looking forward to having to support my idiot relatives. Their inability to load up malicious applications has been the only thing that's made it possible to have tech products that don't require constant maintenance and repair. I am greatly concerned that scammers and other scumbags are going to take advantage of this to get malware onto iPhones and use that as a springboard for stealing valuable information.
T
Tough titty (Score:2)
The end of family's easy to support iPhones (Score:2)
Soon, we will see Google, Meta, Epic, Ubisoft, EA, Tencent, etc, coming out with their own app stores, and if you want to continue using WhatsApp, FB, Google Maps, latest games, etc on your iPhone, you have to go to their app store to get it, because the version on Apple's app store will be crippled or abandoned soon. And of course every one of these 3rd party app stores will collect everything about you when you register and then their app would be filled with telemetry, tracking your every move.
Then it w
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AV Companies Rejoice! (Score:1)
With the difference that on PCs there was an, although minimal in some cases, understanding of the security issues, while with iPhones in the hands of everyone this can create some serous problem due to the level of things which can be done with a cellphone today.
What happens if the other App store closes? (Score:2)
What happens if the other / new app stores close? Will iphone users who purchased something from those get to keep those Apps or do they go poof?
Especially when you are changing to a new device.