With the new European regulations, Apple will have to think regarding a solution to authorize alternative application stores on its devices. A bad idea for the developer of one of these third-party stores.
The knowledgeable Mark Gurman told us a few days ago that iPhone et iPad might welcome alternative application stores from 2024. Apple would indeed be putting in place such a plan to comply with the new European rules on digital markets.
The App Store, a closed but reliable ecosystem
Faced with this news, still in the form of a rumor, the developer Riley Testut, at the origin of a third-party application store for iOS, expressed himself on Twitter. The man shares his thoughts and explains why allowing the arrival of application stores other than the App Store would be a bad thing. First, he clarifies that the Apple store is an example of security. The curation of the store and the many choices of apps to install allow for a reliable and trustworthy environment.
For him, allowing the arrival of other application stores would completely deteriorate the experience. Testut details by advancing a possible scenario. Meta might decide to open its store on iOS. Since Mark Zuckerberg’s group doesn’t have many apps developed in-house, it might pay developers and promise them a lower sales tax to migrate their app from the App Store to the Meta Store. Moreover, Instagram and WhatsApp belonging to him, he would necessarily bring them back to his store. This would directly affect users who would find themselves forced to download the Meta store if they want to continue using the applications.
Testut summarizes as follows. It would then not be a question of asking the question of “Do I use third-party stores to get cool apps? » but rather “Am I using third-party stores just so I can continue using my apps? ». A problem that PC video game players have known for several years with the proliferation of game launchers (Steam, Epic, Xbox, etc.)
Sideloading, an option to consider
In the wake of European regulations that may lead Apple to authorize third-party stores, the giant might, and should according to Testut, also allow the sideloading. This practice consists of directly downloading the installation file of an application without going through the App Store box. This is a technique used today by the most connoisseurs of iOS to circumvent Apple’s restrictions, but more widely on Android via the famous .apk files. For the developer, Apple would benefit from simply allowing the sideloading for the reasons given above.
So successful apps would have no reason to leave the App Store, and apps that didn’t meet Apple’s criteria might, to some extent, exist. It is obvious that Apple will comply with these regulations, the fines provided for non-compliance being steep. The question is, like USB-C ports for the iPhone, to know how the giant will go regarding it. For the moment, it is impossible to answer.
