Apple unveils App Store updates for the EU, including Web Distribution, which will let authorized developers offer iOS apps on their websites from spring 2024

Last week, Apple released iOS 17.4 with big changes to the iPhone and App Store ecosystem to comply with the Digital Markets Act in the European Union.

9to5Mac 2024-03-13 Chance Miller

Context & Ripple Effects

The change follows a long-running expectation that EU rules would force iOS to accommodate third-party app stores and changed defaults. Apple had already paired that opening with a plan to notarize apps distributed outside its store, preserving a platform review role.

Web Distribution extends the compliance toolkit beyond alternative storefronts: qualifying developers gain a direct web route, while Apple defines the authorization conditions for participation. The later rollout confirmed the mechanism reached EU users under those conditions.

First-order effects

Qualifying developers can distribute iOS apps from their own websites to EU users, creating a channel that does not begin with an App Store listing.
Apple shifts from being the exclusive retail endpoint to setting the eligibility and authorization rules for a new distribution path.

Second-order effects

Developers now have a stronger basis to direct existing customers to their own web properties, while alternative app stores must differentiate beyond simply offering a route outside the App Store.
Apple’s review and participation requirements become central competitive terms: direct distribution expands developer choice without eliminating Apple’s role in governing iOS software access.

Third-order effects

If developers adopt these routes at scale, EU mobile-app distribution could evolve from a single-store model into several regulated channels—first-party web, alternative stores, and Apple’s store—rather than a clean replacement of Apple’s platform.
The DMA is pushing platform competition toward disputes over the practical terms of access, including eligibility, review, and fees, not merely whether alternatives are formally permitted.

The trend: This is one step in the EU-driven unbundling of mobile platform distribution, where regulators open new channels while incumbents retain meaningful control through access rules.

Discussion

@timothybucksf Timothy Buck on threads
Fascinating to watch how Apple has handled this. Will they get fined for missing the deadline? The law has been in effect for a short time, but they wouldn't be making these changes if they weren't convinced they were out of compliance. It's hard to even know which of their co…
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on threads
I've made this point before, but even if you wish the iPhone worked like a rooted android phone, or even (God forbid) windows, the EU doesn't and the DMA doesn't require that, and Apple thinks that would be terrible for the product, for users and developers, not just its P&L (it …
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on threads
Another of the obvious EU objections to Apple rules flips - interesting that Apple will limit side-loading to developers' own websites, and the developer must have 1m downloads first. Clever as a way to block spam and fake apps ('your bank needs this new app!') - but tricky for…
@eshumarneedi @eshumarneedi on threads
Very interesting. It seems Apple is getting suggestions from the EC as to how to comply with the DMA. Developers will be able to register a URL in App Store Connect and will be given access to APIs that allow them to distribute apps directly from the web. …
@elkmovie@mastodon.social Michael Love on mastodon
The requirements around this are onerous, but I actually view it as a positive sign because now instead of requiring Apple to allow sideloading and having Apple hem and haw about how tricky that is, the EU just has to tell Apple to drop the minimum download count and fee. https:/…
@elkmovie@mastodon.social Michael Love on mastodon
And the whole business about requiring at least 1M installs but then charging you after 1M installs is clearly designed to both lock out smaller developers and make this financially onerous for big ones, so I'm hopeful they do make those adjustments (and in the meantime am going …
@khaost@mastodon.tz.is Khaos Tian on mastodon
Apple's plan is already cracking a week into DMA 😛
@stroughtonsmith … Steve Troughton-Smith on mastodon
Apple's trying desperately to slice up its developer base in a way that removes DMA rights from as many as possible, or makes it as unappealing as they can for those who might want to go this route. ‘Be a member of good standing for 2 years’, ‘have 1M active EU users’, ‘have a m…
@stroughtonsmith … Steve Troughton-Smith on mastodon
Apple's new clutch at malicious compliance is its requirement to “Be a member of good standing [...] for two continuous years or more, and have an app that had more than one million first annual installs on iOS in the EU in the prior calendar year.”, which it has applied to web-b…
@stroughtonsmith … Steve Troughton-Smith on mastodon
It looks like Apple is rapidly finding out all the 'and/or's in the DMA were ‘ands’ not ‘ors’. Apple had bet their entire compliance plan on those being ‘ors’. — Now Apple is enabling web-based sideloading alongside third-party app stores — https://mastodon.social/...
@gurupanguji@mastodon.social @gurupanguji@mastodon.social on mastodon
https://www.techmeme.com/... Finally, iOS will allow you to install apps from the web — if you meet ten diff clauses — in EU only. — I've never wanted to live more in EU. Also doesn't apply to iPad OS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ — #apple #dma #eu #ios #ipados
@frankreiff@mastodon.social Frank Reiff on mastodon
Apple's latest changes to its DMA compliance are getting a lot closer to something worth doing. Now we just need them to drop the Core Technology Fee and I might be ready to go back to developing for iOS.
@drewmccormack@mastodon.cloud Drew McCormack on mastodon
One thing you can say for sure about Steve Jobs is that he loved to keep things simple. 30% tax on sales. Apps, books. Simple. The latest efforts to handle DMA would make him squirm. You seriously need a decision tree to understand all the options. https://9to5mac.com/...
@xroissance @xroissance on x
It takes 15 clicks to install an app from the web using the newly proposed Apple flow. Here's the journey: 🧵1/5
@jonyiveparody @jonyiveparody on x
Apple's plan for EU App Stores: [Gif from Indiana Jones movie: “I don't know. I'm making this up as I go."]
@patrickmoorhead Patrick Moorhead on x
It's always fun to see the Apple spin machine in action on @x. The usual suspects mysteriously all come out on the same day in near total unity. This is preceded by 1:1 call downs. Apple never asks them to do anything. But they know if they don't say something publicly, they may.…
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
Apple will allow users to download apps directly from a developer's website, in latest EU App Store rule change [link] if you're celebrating this as more of Apple caving into bad press then you're misunderstanding what is going on...Make no mistake, every change Apple is making i…
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
Congratulations to Apple leadership for designing the worst app installation experience in the history of computing! Because Apple designers are the world's best, there's no question that this abomination is a premeditated part of a malicious European DMA compliance strategy.
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
If developers are scared into silence while Apple and Google have literally hundreds of lobbyists employed by dozens of front organizations secretly advocating for their positions and giving money to political candidates, how do smartphone users and app developers have a chance?
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
Apple forces users into rummaging around their device to find the buried settings needed to install the app. Compare this freak show of executive-mandated bad design to the App Store, where amazing designers make installs as easy as possible.
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
Worse is Apple's effort to scare all developers into silence by publicly banning Epic citing our criticism of Apple's decisions. This was unquestionable intentional as both Phil Schiller's and Apple lawyers' letters specifically cited our speech. https://www.epicgames.com/...
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
Have you seen the GDPR cookie UI? They are proud of this and just added more. Complaining to Apple isn't where the complaints need to go. They are simply solving for the conflicting and irreconcilable constraints of “please don't go backwards in security” and “please be open”.
@xroissance @xroissance on x
@mysk_co @dhh It takes 15 taps and app switches to install an app using the new method Apple proposes. I think they've beat Google's sideloading in complexity. https://x.com/...
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
This is your definition and in doing so offers zero deference or credit to Apple's design point of security, privacy, and reliability. DMA doesn't require Apple to be less of those and gives permits then to maintain their value proposition. I won't bore you with examples from...
@dhh @dhh on x
@thisprofileismt Sideloading in its pure form looks like macOS and Windows.
@drbarnard David Barnard on x
@stevesi Apple could leave the EU market just like developers could leave the App Store, but if you want to play ball, you're forced to follow whatever arbitrary rules are mandated (whether by law or by contract or both) in that market. My point being, many developers have writte…
@drbarnard David Barnard on x
I genuinely think it's lost on Apple just how scared developers are of them and of App Review. And then how that shapes the entire mobile app industry.
@eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
I made this point in my interview on @stratechery last month: Apple's developer guidelines related to the DMA were a trial balloon, and it will iterate into compliance over time since neither party really understood from the outset what that looks like. https://stratechery.com/..…
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
I wish we'd see some investigative journalism here. What executive at Apple directed this monstrosity? What individuals designers were forced to implement it? How do they - who joined Apple to make fantastic products - feel about being made co-conspirators in violating the DMA?
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
@drbarnard Government : Private Corporation = Compulsory : Optional
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
Hey guys I think I've figured it out. The EU could require Apple to demonstrate side loading at their next product event. Then Apple can either fix the intentionally horrible design or @tim_cook can proudly demo the 15 magical steps and three magical scare screens to the world!
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
This is a brilliant idea, @vestager. Let the public and Parliament see how Apple is torching the experience to protect its gatekeeping and weaken the rollout of the DMA along with the ambitions of other parliaments.
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
Fair competition on iOS and Android requires that it be just as easy to find, install, and use an app from the web or a third party store than from the built-in store: as simple as searching the web and clicking a button to install the app directly or through its store.
@ashleevance Ashlee Vance on x
Scoop: AIs figured out language because we had so much text to feed the AIs. Robots have been MUCH harder to feed with data. A new start-up reckons it can solve the problem and create a universal AI brain for many robots and many machines. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
And it must be just as easy to make a payment in an app through a third-party payment service as through the built-in payment service. Apple and Google mustn't get away with abusing gatekeeper power to disadvantage, control or tax competing stores or payment services.
@confusedvorlon Rob Jonson on x
@drbarnard Hard to imagine how the requirement to follow Apple's rules and generate 1m installs in their store over two years could be a reasonable precondition to exercising DMA rights.
@drbarnard David Barnard on x
As with other provisions that only apply to EU based companies, it'll be interesting to see what the EC says about this. EU consumers would benefit more if all developers around the world could side-load, not just EU based companies.
@drbarnard David Barnard on x
And this provision about being a developer in good standing for 2+ years with 1M+ installs precludes brand new app categories and innovative apps that aren't currently allowed on the App Store (like porn apps). [image]
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
@ConfusedVorlon @drbarnard Agreed, this is a an illegal and spiteful restriction. The DMA mandates side-loading. Apple demands the developer pay App Store rent to Cupertino for two years in order to exercise this legal right. More malicious compliance.
@ericmigi Eric Migicovsky on x
Getting closer to real sideloading! Still tons of problems (€0.50 fee, still need to be compliant with Apple BS rules, etc), but it's clear that the EU is chipping away at the ridiculous malicious DMA compliance that Apple announced in Jan.
@dhh @dhh on x
The EU must insist that gatekeepers like Apple allow developers the right to distribute their software directly to users without interference. No memberships, no agreements, no gatekeeping. Technical defenses only. This is the only way we will have free competition.
@d4tocchini Dan Tocchini IV on x
The effort Apple expends to nerf their developer APIs is astounding. Sideloading is hard even on MacOS now. All for our “safety & “security” the apple soyboy will parrot.
@dhh @dhh on x
Apple adds “sideloading” in Europe, but only developers who've been in the app store for 2 years and have an app with a million downloads qualify. More malicious, gatekeeping compliance. https://developer.apple.com/ ...
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
Negotiating 101: start with the most outlandish position and slowly walk it back until your new harsh proposal seems reasonable as a result... Still, app distribution on the web! With a million caveats! https://spyglass.org/...
@openwebadvocacy @openwebadvocacy on x
Apple has caved yet again in the EU, this time for direct download. Browsers need both be allowed to offer direct download and control the update mechanism without scare screens. Another DMA win! https://9to5mac.com/...
@ballmatthew Matthew Ball on x
Apple buckles to DMA compliance criticisms and inquiries again, only days after launch Will now allow true sideloading (versus needing to install from an app store) and companies to operate their own app stores just for their apps
@lewis_crofts Lewis Crofts on x
Another #DMA concession by @Apple It's now allowing apps to be downloaded from web browsers (and not via the App Store or side-loaded rival app stores). Apple had previously said it wouldn't allow this because of security concerns.
@jamestitcomb James Titcomb on x
Genuinely starting to wonder if Apple's strategy for dealing with the EU is just to change its rules every few days
@mysk_co @mysk_co on x
The compliance is getting less malicious... ✌️ “Web Distribution, available with a software update later this spring, will let authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to EU users directly from a website owned by the developer.” https://9to5mac.com/...
@drbarnard David Barnard on x
🫤 [image]
@drbarnard David Barnard on x
🤯
@bzamayo Benjamin Mayo on x
All those OG EU App Store rules are basically irrelevant, as now Apple will let devs distribute apps directly on their website - basically what people think of as free-for-all sideloading, but with the Core Technology Fee attached https://9to5mac.com/...
@bzamayo Benjamin Mayo on x
This is pretty blatantly changed in response to EU commission followup as the original rules were carefully orchestrated to prevent a direct web distribution user flow; e.g, a company like Spotify no longer needs a marketplace as an intermediary.
r/technology r on reddit
Apple will allow users to download apps directly from a developer's website, in latest EU App Store rule change
r/iphone r on reddit
Apple will allow users to download apps directly from a developer's website, in latest EU App Store rule change

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