I think it will, unfortunately, be a lot less interesting than people are hoping for.
1. It will almost certainly be EU-exclusive. Maybe tied to an EU SIM card.
2. It will likely only be on iOS, as that's the only "gatekeeper" operating system that the EU has recognized Apple as having. Apple Watch? iPads? Far less likely to support sideloading.
3. I wouldn't be shocked if sideloading is restricted to Apple-approved 3rd-party App Stores to minimize security risks (no direct installation of an IPA like you would an APK). Which would, arguably, still be compliant.
4. In almost all legal cases including in the US, nobody has recognized Apple's 30% cut as being illegal. Another example is Denmark's dating apps rule, where you can opt-out of using Apple's in-app purchases framework, but Apple will demand a 26% commission through legal contract (basically, you get 4% off for using your own credit card provider). It is possible that apps installed through sideloading will still be legally obligated to give Apple that cut, which would be... very pointless for anything other than emulators and apps that Apple wouldn't normally allow.
5. Apple appears to have successfully argued that iMessage usage, within the EU, is too low to be considered a "gatekeeper," and the EU appears to be in agreement. No interoperability is coming there.
Got to be honest, qua customer, I have zero interest in alternative app stores. Maybe I'd care as a developer because I'd have money on the line, but I just have zero interest. And, fwiw, I'd rather have Apple act as my payment intermediary than hand out payment information to more parties.
I'm sure it's great or whatever, but I can't see it.
It's odd... I feel like I shouldn't feel this way but I actually wish it wasn't happening. I appreciate Apple's gatekeeping, for the sake of privacy and security. As a developer, I also do not object to their cut of sales for providing a straightforward marketing and distribution channel.
Meta (and to some extent Google) are going to have to be careful, as the obvious temptation for them is to open their own app delivery mechanism which is far more liberal with data collection and permissions. In the Google case they could probably technical deliver a Play Store for iOS complete with delivering a massive subset of Android apps in an emulated environment.
The problem is just how sticky their apps prove to be once outside the trusted confines of the App Store, and so I wouldn't be surprised if more things stay within the walled garden than we expect.
The other massive question is who will be allowed to run the stores. If you've uploaded an app in the last few years the big change is the number of assertions you have to make about UAC and news content (or lack of) has exploded. It will be curious if the EU end up releasing forces which create widespread new less American filtered media distribution.
I am generally onboard with none native AppStoreās provided the platform vendors are able to have sensible defaults that will not confuse or limit what none technical people can do (basically iPhones should ship as they are but users can add none native AppStoreās by jumping through some fairly trivial hoops..)
The bit where it falls down for me is where does it end, if Apple / google are forced to open up their platforms so epic etc can have their own app stores, are Epic etc forced to open up their platforms (the Fortnite store for instance) so others parties can open their own stores within the game?
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I agree, although given the very long list of questions that the author proposes later in the article... if that much is left unsaid by the letter of the legislation, then this is probably going to be a shitshow.
> What does compliance look like, exactly? For everyday iPhone users, how will you find and install independently-distributed apps? Will they be listed in a separate section of the āApp Storeā app [...]
What?
I haven't purchased any apps in many years (despite having an iphone since 2007). The main reason is many of the apps I would have been interested in have moved to a subscription model. I'm not even willing to subscribe to Netflix, much less an app. So all the apps I use today are either ones I purchased one time in the past, are free, or are built in. I'm not sure having more app stores is going to change anything for me.
None of this will matter unless someone figures out a mainstream use case for non-Apple app store. Maybe Fortnite can be a thing? Maybe Elon Musk can try push his everything app vision? Maybe piracy?
I don't know but Apple's App Store rules, although not perfect, serve the iPhone users very well.
If there was a mainstream use case, it should have happened on Android. Other than that, good for all the geeks out there. iPhones might turne even more versatile and still secure if installing apps from outside of the AppStore is hard enough to discourage a non techie but easy enough so any teenager can do it.
On most cases the Apple's commission is nothing, it's a well deserved fee for Apple making selling and distributing and getting paid for an app a breeze. The only negative IMHO is that it weeds out all the nerdy folks who would like to experiment new things on their device.
Overall, I expect positive outcomes for everyone.
I would really just love an alternate browser
Prediction:
iOS will get a stricter form of "System Integrity Protection" (the macOS feature that allows you to disable most of the sandboxing and code signing policy). The process for disabling it will be even more onerous and scary than it is on macOS, which requires rebooting into Recovery mode and typing a command into a terminal.
Third-party app stores and other unapproved software will be available if the user disables SIP, but financial apps and the NFC chip will be blocked.
Therefore nobody will do it, and Apple will say "told you so".