Apple Announces Ability to Download iPhone Apps From Websites in EU

[mcnallym]

Maybe you have answered your question yourself. This is not some niche market anymore, with games, camera apps dominating the download charts. Smartphones as a platform have become substantial infrastructure of large parts of the digital economy. It's only consequential, that at some point lawmaker decided, that this part of the economy needed some rules that govern the access to these platforms. This is what the Digital Markets Act is. Other countries will follow with similar laws.

I noticed that you said Smartphones as a platform indicating that iOS is not the only player in town.

indeed users of smartphones do have a choice

android with its open platform or iOS with its closed platform.

Apple only becomes a gatekeeper once a user has CHOSEN to purchase an iPhone as their smartphone.

 

[mcnallym]

There only two major mobile OS platforms available, iOS being one of them. Apple has been restricting app access competition on a major and lucrative segment of the mobile OS market. Opening up iOS to sideloading and alternative app stores therefore opens up app access CHOICE and COMPETITION in that major segment of the mobile OS market that wasn't allowed before.

So you acknowledge that there is an alternative to iOS. Does not this mean there is CHOICE and COMPETITION to iOS in the mobile OS market.

so your lack of CHOICE and COMPETITION is only once the consumer has made a CHOICE between the competing mobile OS.

is that not a Consumers CHOICE to pick a mobile OS that is a walled garden over a mobile OS that is open.

 

[truthsteve]

“Just don’t sell your app on the most popular platform in a number of countries. Look at all the choice you have”.

I like how you qualified that.

Why not give the hard numbers for important context?

Android vs. Apple Market Share: Leading Mobile OS

Delve into the rivalry between Android and iOS in mobile operating systems market share worldwide and in the US.

www.bankmycell.com

"Android takes the top spot at 69.88% market share globally in 2024, beating iOS by a 40% difference, which has a 29.39% market share."

sure iOS is #1 in "number of countries" but TAM is much larger with Android.

 

[mcnallym]

I like how you qualified that.

Why not give the hard numbers for important context?

Android vs. Apple Market Share: Leading Mobile OS

Delve into the rivalry between Android and iOS in mobile operating systems market share worldwide and in the US.

www.bankmycell.com

"Android takes the top spot at 69.88% market share globally in 2024, beating iOS by a 40% difference, which has a 29.39% market share."

sure iOS is #1 in "number of countries" but TAM is much larger with Android.

Only problem is that whilst market share for phones has Android roundly spanking iOS, then when it comes to app and in app purchasing iOS smaller user base roundly spanks Android.

for devs then whilst Android has more users then it is iOS users that spend money overall.

it is that money that devs need to target as iOS more likely to spend even though less of them.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Hey, I just did this today on my Mac and on my Windows 11 machine!

It's great!

Lucky duck EU users -- Color me jealous

 

[truthsteve]

Only problem is that whilst market share for phones has Android roundly spanking iOS, then when it comes to app and in app purchasing iOS smaller user base roundly spanks Android.

for devs then whilst Android has more users then it is iOS users that spend money overall.

it is that money that devs need to target as iOS more likely to spend even though less of them.

one of the reasons why iOS has more paying users is that Apple built the platform very well which boils down to a much better UX. this is why Apple should be allowed to control the platform as to how they see fit.

 

[turbineseaplane]

So you acknowledge that there is an alternative to iOS. Does not this mean there is CHOICE and COMPETITION to iOS in the mobile OS market.

so your lack of CHOICE and COMPETITION is only once the consumer has made a CHOICE between the competing mobile OS.

is that not a Consumers CHOICE to pick a mobile OS that is a walled garden over a mobile OS that is open.

You don't understand

Having "a choice" does not always mean "enough choice"

The EU has decided that two players is not, in fact, enough competition and choice for customers and developers in their jurisdiction

That's literally all that matters

Governments decide how markets work, not corporations.

 

[Zest28]

sounds like a massive fail for the user experience

"hey you want our app?"

"yeah but I don't see it on the App Store"

"nah you gotta go to the website and download because we want more money"

"terrible"

"oh and type it correctly or else you might go to a scam site"

this is so stupid

Exactly. I don't like gaming on PC for this reason with games locked behind different stores. On consoles, it is all in one place and all the games are curated by Microsoft to work 100% on the Xbox Series X. So I don't need to do anything with regards to trying to fix things to make the game run.

It's also the reason why the Steam Deck got so popular as the user experience is simply much better than PC.

Reinstalling my Mac is alot of fun too, because I need to go to many different websites to download all the plugins I own and also download all the license keys. Same story for alot of my other software.

It would have been much better if Mac was locked down too, so everything could be downloaded through the App Store with a click of a button, rather than going to so many different websites.

 

[Zest28]

You don't understand

Having "a choice" does not always mean "enough choice"

The EU has decided that two players is not, in fact, enough competition and choice for customers and developers in their jurisdiction

That's literally all that matters

Governments decide how markets work, not corporations.

The EU don't even make sense. Turning the iPhone to be like the dominated market player (Android has around 70% market share in the EU), reduces competition as the iPhone is now Android.

Do you people even know what competition means? In the end, every smartphone that tries to compete against Android will have to be the same in the EU.

 

[svish]

Nice move. Would like to see this in other countries too.

 

[vakarpochui]

That's how you install apps on Windows machines and there's a billion+ Windows users.

I don’t know what happens in your head.

Choice is only good when there are different benefits for each choice. This “choice” gives no benefit for the mainstream customer. All it does is take away their one-stop shop. It causes inconvenience and adds new venerabilities. It only benefits a small percentage of customers (techies) who want apps not allowed in the App Store. By far it more benefits developers who don’t want to be beholden to Apple. In other words, this is a choice for developers, not customers.

There people who think that having 25 flavours of ice cream is choice when all are made by nestle or Unilever.

 

[truthsteve]

You don't understand

Having "a choice" does not always mean "enough choice"

The EU has decided that two players is not, in fact, enough competition and choice for customers and developers in their jurisdiction

all they did was remove choices. there will no longer be a mobile platform where there is only 1 store to search for all available native apps.

 

[Abazigal]

Well, I guess I know how I will be spending my afternoon today.

Steven Sinofsky: ‘Building Under Regulation’

Link to: https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/215-building-under-regulation

daringfireball.net

The whole point of the DMA is the EC asserting that they know better than Apple (and Google) how phones should work.

 

[vakarpochui]

Well, I guess I know how I will be spending my afternoon today.

Steven Sinofsky: ‘Building Under Regulation’

Link to: https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/215-building-under-regulation

daringfireball.net

This is obvious.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Apple is a bully.

I want to be able to use all the research and tooling you created without contributing back monetarily so you are bullying me if you dont let me use your platfor to make money for free….

 

[vakarpochui]

I want to be able to use all the research and tooling you created without contributing back monetarily so you are bullying me if you dont let me use your platfor to make money for free….

I know this is insane. I was replying to another person. EU thinks apple is a bully along with other sharp marbles.

 

[User 6502]

buy android then. clearly people already have options.

They also have the option to protest until the EU forces Apple to offer this option in iOS too, which is exactly what is happening.

 

[iLondoner]

I buy Apple because of the infrastructure and security, I don't care if Apple takes a 30% cut from developers—they knew that when they started developing.

The sooner third party app stores start distributing trojan horses the better. Then everyone can blame the EU.

 

[CraigJDuffy]

But if apps make the platform then surely by devs not developing on iOS then users will not choose iOS because lack of apps.

at that point devs will either get better terms from Apple or Apple pulls out of market and devs sell the App instead on Android to the user.

Win/Win for the developer surely?

I mean sure, if the App Store was equal and fair. Netflix won’t pull out of the App Store because they get special treatment from Apple though.

 

[CraigJDuffy]

I like how you qualified that.

Why not give the hard numbers for important context?

Android vs. Apple Market Share: Leading Mobile OS

Delve into the rivalry between Android and iOS in mobile operating systems market share worldwide and in the US.

www.bankmycell.com

"Android takes the top spot at 69.88% market share globally in 2024, beating iOS by a 40% difference, which has a 29.39% market share."

sure iOS is #1 in "number of countries" but TAM is much larger with Android.

Yes, android is more popular globally. But apple makes up a much larger % of paid apps.

 

[mcnallym]

You don't understand

Having "a choice" does not always mean "enough choice"

The EU has decided that two players is not, in fact, enough competition and choice for customers and developers in their jurisdiction

That's literally all that matters

Governments decide how markets work, not corporations.

Really so how is the EU going to add a 3rd or even 4th mobile OS supplier to the Smartphone market with the DMA regulations.

DMA has no power to force another company to enter the Smartphone Market.
It isn’t going to change that only 2 suppliers of smartphone mobile OS.
it isn’t going to make it any easier for an extra mobile OS to break into the market.

All the DMA does is force Apple to open up the App Distribution within iOS.

So it only affects you once you have made your CHOICE to purchase an iOS device, whilst removing the CHOICE for consumers of a closed mobile ecosystem.

Is the EU going to pay some 3rd Party to develop a closed mobile ecosystem determining charges for dev kits etc and app deployment so that users who want a closed mobile ecosystem can have the CHOICE of one, as they just stripped consumers of that CHOICE.

 

[Sophisticatednut]

I got super excited until I read this bit:

“…providing they meet Apple's specific criteria, such as being a member of the Apple Developer Program for two continuous years or more and having an app with more than one million first installs on iOS in the EU in the prior year, and commit to ongoing requirements, such as publishing transparent data collection policies. Apps distributed in this way must meet Apple's notarization requirements like all other iOS apps and can only be installed from a web domain registered in App Store Connect.”

This is still a mighty entry barrier, IMO, as opposed to just putting an IPA file on the developers website and letting users download and install it, as we can do with apps in macOS.

And, what about iPadOS? Keeping these welcome changes all to iOS really discourages developers to put extra work in just for one OS.

Well it’s a small step. Yesterday not even that was allowed. Seems Apple is slipping down the slippery slope of trying to not get sued to oblivion by EU as they notice how they aren’t going far enough 😂

 

[Sophisticatednut]

Really so how is the EU going to add a 3rd or even 4th mobile OS supplier to the Smartphone market with the DMA regulations.

DMA has no power to force another company to enter the Smartphone Market.
It isn’t going to change that only 2 suppliers of smartphone mobile OS.
it isn’t going to make it any easier for an extra mobile OS to break into the market.

All the DMA does is force Apple to open up the App Distribution within iOS.

So it only affects you once you have made your CHOICE to purchase an iOS device, whilst removing the CHOICE for consumers of a closed mobile ecosystem.

Is the EU going to pay some 3rd Party to develop a closed mobile ecosystem determining charges for dev kits etc and app deployment so that users who want a closed mobile ecosystem can have the CHOICE of one, as they just stripped consumers of that CHOICE.

You’re being mistaken. The choice isn’t the OS as Eau gives zero thought about that.
The issue is undertakers( legal and private entities engaged in economic activity) have only one choice on the iOS platform and that being iTunes billing. Competes allowing third party providers to compete 100% on the merit of their service with as little obstacles in the way to compete.

 

[vakarpochui]

Really so how is the EU going to add a 3rd or even 4th mobile OS supplier to the Smartphone market with the DMA regulations.

DMA has no power to force another company to enter the Smartphone Market.
It isn’t going to change that only 2 suppliers of smartphone mobile OS.
it isn’t going to make it any easier for an extra mobile OS to break into the market.

All the DMA does is force Apple to open up the App Distribution within iOS.

So it only affects you once you have made your CHOICE to purchase an iOS device, whilst removing the CHOICE for consumers of a closed mobile ecosystem.

Is the EU going to pay some 3rd Party to develop a closed mobile ecosystem determining charges for dev kits etc and app deployment so that users who want a closed mobile ecosystem can have the CHOICE of one, as they just stripped consumers of that CHOICE.

EU wants to do what SSSR used to do. Set prices out of thin air and tell people what they can and can’t do.

 

[mcnallym]

I mean sure, if the App Store was equal and fair. Netflix won’t pull out of the App Store because they get special treatment from Apple though.

You mean that a developer said to Apple give us better terms or we won’t be on your platform.

that is precisely what I said devs should do In my post.

thank you for confirming that what I said was correct and works by giving us such an example of a Dev that done what I suggested that they should do.