Apple announces sweeping changes for apps in Europe, including allowing third-party app stores for the first time
CNN
Apple announced sweeping new changes to its handling of apps in Europe on Thursday, including plans to allow third-party app stores on iPhones and iPads for the first time in company history and significant cuts to Apple’s app store fees.
Apple announced sweeping new changes to its handling of apps in Europe on Thursday, including plans to allow third-party app stores on iPhones and iPads for the first time in company history and significant cuts to Apple’s app store fees. The unprecedented updates, which are a response to new European regulations set to take effect in March, reflect some of the most consequential changes to Apple’s app business since the debut of its proprietary app store 15 years ago, which forms the bedrock of its walled garden ecosystem. For consumers, the shift may mean more choices in how they acquire and install apps. And for developers, other changes to Apple’s terms may give them more flexibility in how they market themselves to users. The moves underscore how European Union policymakers have successfully forced Apple to change its business practices in the face of vocal complaints from developers who have accused the iPhone maker of anticompetitive or monopolistic behavior. Under the changes, Apple said it will allow users to download third-party app stores onto their devices from websites outside of Apple’s own ecosystem. The app stores, Apple said, will exist as standalone apps on an iOS device with the authority to install other apps offered by those third-party marketplaces. Apple also said it would slash the fees it collects from in-app transactions involving digital goods and services, reducing them from 30% to 17% and, for developers that are eligible for certain discount programs through Apple, from 15% to 10%.
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