The new measure will only be active in Europe and is part of the set of concessions that the company has had to make in its distribution policy due to the Digital Markets Law
In a few months, iPhone users in the European Union will be able to do something that has been impossible since the first model hit the market but is quite common to do with Macs or Windows PCs: buy, download and install an application directly from the developer's website.
Since the arrival of the iOS 17.4 operating system version last week, Apple has allowed alternative application stores to exist on the platform. There are none active yet, but several are in preparation.
It is one of the requirements of the new European Digital Markets Law. These stores work like the AppStore. They are an application that, when opened, offers a catalog of unpleasant applications, free or paid, but which may have their own content policies, different from those that Apple applies in its official store. Now, Apple has also announced that iPhone users in Europe will be able to skip these stores and download iPhone apps directly from a developer's website.
The function will arrive this spring and the conditions will be the same as for distribution in third-party application stores. Apple will have to "notarize" (digitally sign) these applications so that they can work, as is already the case, for example, with software distributed on Mac.
This process includes several security checks to ensure that the app does not pose a threat to the security of the device or the user and allows Apple to block the app at any time if it deems it dangerous to run.
Under the new policy, only developers will be able to offer these applications on their websites. It is not possible for a third party, for example, to create their own application directory. Developers will need to have an active Apple development account and at least two years of experience distributing apps. They will also have to have gotten their apps to accumulate at least one million downloads during the previous year.
These conditions, together with the need to accept the special agreement for alternative distribution of apps, which include a fixed cost of 50 euro cents for each installation of the app from the first million downloads, close the door to the new form of distribution can be used by small or newly established developers. Non-profit, educational or government and institutional applications may be exempt from this new fixed commission, and for them this new way of reaching users may make more sense.
Apple, in any case, will allow developers who choose to continue distributing their applications exclusively from the AppStore and using the company's payment system to maintain the current conditions.
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