Apple plans to allow alt app stores and browser engines on iPads in the EU with iPadOS 18 on September 16, after the EU added iPadOS to the DMA in April 2024
It was a matter of time, but Apple is going to allow third-party app stores on the iPad starting next week, on September 16.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s EU platform-opening path was anticipated as early as reports of third-party iOS and iPadOS stores, but iPadOS was initially left outside the first set of App Store changes because it did not meet DMA thresholds. The Commission’s later designation of iPadOS turned that exclusion into a compliance obligation.
Apple had already outlined EU web distribution for qualifying developers, creating a second route beyond its store; that web-distribution framework provides the immediate backdrop for extending alternative distribution and browser-engine choices to iPad users.
First-order effects
- EU iPad users gain access to alternative app marketplaces and browsers using non-Apple engines when iPadOS 18 arrives, reducing the App Store and WebKit’s exclusivity on that device.
- Developers and marketplace operators can apply distribution strategies already being built for Apple’s EU mobile ecosystem to iPadOS rather than maintaining an iPhone-only offering.
Second-order effects
- Alternative stores, browser vendors, and developers face a stronger incentive to make their EU offerings work across both iPhone and iPad, while Apple must operate its DMA compliance model across another platform.
- Web distribution becomes more complementary to marketplace distribution: eligible developers can weigh direct website delivery against reaching iPad users through third-party stores.
Third-order effects
- The iPadOS designation shows that DMA obligations can expand as the regulator reassesses platform services, making device-by-device exemptions less durable for gatekeepers.
- If alternative stores and browser engines attract meaningful usage, competition may increasingly center on distribution terms and default access rather than hardware alone; adoption remains the key uncertainty.
The trend: EU digital-market rules are steadily shifting control of mobile software distribution and browser technology from single-platform defaults toward contestable access layers.