Apple unveils App Store updates for the EU, including letting qualifying developers offer apps on their websites via a Web Distribution tool from spring 2024
This is the operational follow-through on Apple’s earlier EU-facing shift: reporting had signaled that the company would permit third-party iOS app stores and changed defaults under incoming requirements. Web distribution adds a developer-owned route alongside those new channels.
Apple’s approach pairs broader distribution with platform oversight; its proposed notarization of apps outside the App Store shows that opening the channel does not mean abandoning baseline review.
First-order effects
Qualifying developers in the EU gain a direct way to offer iPhone apps from their own websites, reducing their dependence on the App Store as the sole download destination.
Apple must support and govern another iOS distribution path while retaining eligibility and platform-safety controls for participating developers.
Second-order effects
Developers can weigh direct audience acquisition against App Store discovery, pushing marketing, onboarding, and support work closer to the developer rather than the store.
Alternative app stores and browser-based distribution become more credible complements in the EU, increasing pressure on Apple to make its permitted routes workable rather than merely available.
Third-order effects
The DMA is moving iOS from a single-store distribution model toward regulated, multi-channel access, while Apple seeks to preserve control through qualification and review rules.
If this pattern holds, platform competition will increasingly turn on the terms of access—fees, safety checks, and user-facing friction—rather than simply whether outside distribution is allowed.
The trend: European platform regulation is shifting mobile software distribution from exclusive gatekeeping toward controlled interoperability and competing access paths.
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
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@drbarnard
David Barnard on x
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@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.