Apple will finally let third-party app shops work on the iPad next week, on September 16. It was only a matter of time. With the next big release of iPadOS, the operating system made just for the iPad, this change will happen.
The move has to do with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) of the European Union, which is a set of rules for fair markets and competition. The Commission released a list of six tech companies last fall. These companies are called “gatekeepers” because they run “core platform services” (CPS). Since then, a seventh has been added.
At first, the Commission said that three of Apple’s goods and services were CPS: iOS, the App Store, which is a marketplace for apps, and Safari, which is a web browser. In April, it said that Apple’s iPadOS would be added to the list.
Even though the number of iPadOS users wasn’t high enough to be covered by the DMA, the Commission can make exceptions and said it thought there were strong locked-in effects for business users in particular.
Apple had six months to make sure that iPadOS was up to date and in line with the DMA rules. That brings us to the news from Friday: with iPadOS 18, people in the EU will be able to add other app stores. In the same way, people who make web browsers will be able to make iPad browsers with their own computer engines.
Recently made changes to iOS in the EU may show what will happen for iPad users in the EU because iOS has a different DMA compliance plan.
People in the EU can now get apps from five different third-party shops. As an example, the AltStore PAL was the first independent app store in the EU that could be used on iOS. You can get apps like iTorrent, Delta, UTM, which is a video game player, and more with this program.
Before apps can be sold on other app shops, Apple notarizes them to make sure they are safe. Apple also wants app makers to agree to new business terms and pay a “Core Technology Fee” over a certain amount.
Epic Games also opened a new iOS app shop in the EU, where people can get games like Fall Guys, Rocket League Sideswipe, and Fortnite and play them on their iPhones. It has already been said that the company wants to make Fortnite and its other games available on iPad.
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There are third-party web browsers like Chrome and Firefox that have been around for a while, but they all still use Apple’s own browser engine WebKit to load web pages. The DMA hasn’t been used by tech companies to make an EU-specific computer app for European users yet.
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