iPhone: Apple will have to authorize alternative App Stores in Europe from 2022

One of the biggest differences between an iPhone and an Android smartphone is the feeling of freedom the latter offers. You are relatively limited in Apple terminals. If you want to install an app, it must be available in the App Store, otherwise it’s not worth a try. It is enough to activate a simple authorization on Android. In addition, alternative stores are allowed : Amazon App Store, AppGallery, Samsung Galaxy Store, etc.

Apple doesn’t want alternative offers. Whether in the App Store or payment methods. We saw this well during the Fortnite event. To defend this position, the Cupertino company explains that it cannot protect users’ personal and banking data without securing it. control of all links in the value chain. And to some extent, that’s true: Apple also prevents malware intrusion by preventing prohibited items from being installed. But there’s also a backlash: Apple charges developers heavily for maintaining that trust and security. This is the “Apple Tax”.

Europe will force Apple to open iOS to alternative App Stores

Today, nothing compels Apple to open its ecosystem to third-party app and service resources. But it can happen very quickly. Indeed, the European Parliament this week adopted two important texts that were discussed in the spring of 2022: digital services legislation and digital markets legislation. They will aim to establish a legal framework for all aspects of the app economy. The first is about consumer rights, and the second is about the fairness and openness of practice-related markets.

These texts tell what large groups should and should not do. For example, they must allow access to a concurrency. And they abstain to promote their own interests “. The famous European broker Margrethe Vestager, who repeatedly imposed heavy fines on GAFAM, said that even these firms ” will have to share their data with other companies and enable more app stores “. Tone adjusted.

We’ll see if the Commissioner opens Pandora’s box here towards more freedom, but also towards a more complex, more dangerous, less placid market. Adopting two legislations is just one step. next Final acceptance by the European Parliamentit is then published in the official gazette before being implemented 20 days later. What if before the end of 2022.