You might have remembered that the European Union had mandated all smartphones to have a USB-C port for charging and data transfer, and Apple eventually announced the iPhone 15 lineup to have that versatile port. It looks like Apple won’t stop giving in to the EU’s requests, won’t they?
Now, Apple has announced several changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the European Union to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and you can expect to see those features coming to the upcoming version of iOS 17.4. With those changes, users will have even more control to ensure the user privacy that Apple has in mind.
In the coming months, the EU will see several changes coming to iOS. For the first time, users in the EU will be able to download apps outside of the App Store through alternative app marketplaces. Developers can choose which app marketplace to distribute the app, including marketplaces they create.
On the Safari side, users have been able to set a third-party web browser as their default. Soon, EU users who first open Safari in iOS 17.4 or later will be prompted to choose a default browser from a list of browsers they’ve installed.
For the upcoming changes to the App Store, EU users will be able to use alternative payment options. They will be able to review more information about the apps they’re going to install through App Store product page labels and in-app disclosure sheets.
There are a lot of changes that Apple is planning for those platforms in the EU, so you should head to Apple’s press release from today for more information on those changes.
