Third-party developers from the European Union will be able to offer iPhone apps for download directly from their websites, bypassing the App Store altogether.
Apple made the announcement on its portal for developers, writing in a post that “authorized developers” will be permitted to distribute their iOS apps to EU users directly from a website owned by the developer.
For all apps distributed on the web, the same rules apply as for alternative marketplaces. Among other things, this means that such apps must be notarized, the developer must have been registered with the Apple Developer Program for at least two continuous years and the app must have at least a million installs annualy.
EU developers can distribute iPhone apps via their websites
In other words, sideloading. You will visit the app’s official website using Safari, hit the download link and your iPhone will download and install the app on the device. This will require an iOS software update that’ll arrive “later this spring.”
The change, one of the ways Apple is complying with the EU’s Digital Markets Act, will see participating developers use Apple’s APIs to not only facilitate the distribution of the developer’s apps from the web but also “integrate with system functionality, back up and restore users’ apps and more.”
However, some platform features available to App Store apps will be off-limits to apps distributed on the web. For example, such apps may not be eligible for the Family Sharing and Ask To Buy features. Additionaly, Apple will not handle refunds.
Apple’s concessions to EU regulators
Other changes for Apple’s customers in the EU include the ability to uninstall Safari from their iPhones, download apps from alternative marketplaces, use alternative payment options (if the developer has provided them), and more.
Morevoer, apps distributed in the European Economic Area are permitted to implement contactless payments by acessing the iPhone’s NFC chip. The iPhone maker will provide developers in the EU with expanded analytics reporting.
Alternative app stores such as MacPaw’s Setapp Mobile and Epic’s Games Store are already in the works. However, alterative marketplaces will stop updating apps downloaded through them if the user is outside the EU for more than 30 days.
Developers can also create alternative app stores featuring only their own apps and use custom templates instead of Apple’s scare screens when linking to external purchases. “The Apple-provided design templates, which are optimized for key purchase and promotional use cases, are now optional,” Apple noted.