Apple’s upcoming iOS 17.4 iPhone update will bring a huge change for a subset of iPhone owners. For the first time, Apple is allowing users in Europe to download third-party app stores and install apps from sources other than the company’s official App Store.
But that change comes with some heavy security risks, as Apple highlights in a new white paper that outlines its plan for vetting these apps through a new procedure known as Notarization for iOS.
Apple is permitting third-party apps to be installed on the iPhone in Europe to comply with the European Union’s 2022 Digital Markets Act, or the DMA, which is meant to enforce fair and open competition in the tech sector. The company has also come under increased pressure to open iOS to alternate app stores in recent years following its high-profile legal battle with gaming giant Epic Games. The Fortnite maker sued Apple and Google over their respective app store policies that take up to 30% of the money made from purchases that take place in apps and through app marketplaces.
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Ultimately, there’s only so much control Apple can exert outside the App Store. But the company has developed baseline criteria for alternative app marketplaces, which serve as guidelines to protect users. These include committing resources to monitoring for, and pruning, malicious apps and to offering customer support. In the white paper, Apple mentions how much effort it’s made to maintain the App Store since it launched in 2008 and urges other storefronts to put in the same amount.
Though Apple will let developers accept payments outside the App Store, the company warns users that its financial protections won’t apply. These include easy subscription cancellation, parental controls like Ask to Buy, and protections from getting charged a different amount than advertised. If users fall victim to predatory practices, “AppleCare agents will have limited (if any) ability to assist them,” the white paper says.
While Apple’s document includes its share of scare stories for users and developers — including a warning that alternative app marketplaces could host pirated apps that steal the work of honest developers — it’s also an acknowledgment that the EU’s new DMA regulations are changing the rules of app access on mobile devices. But it’s also worth noting that it’s in Apple’s interest to keep people within the App Store, given that it’s a key part of Apple’s lucrative services business. It’s unclear when or if other regions will get access to non-App Store apps, but this system provides a blueprint Apple could apply elsewhere.
