- Apple has released betas for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
- Of all the new features, the biggest is direct app downloads from the web for EU iPhone users.
- Surely this will all come to the US soon?
The second betas of iOS 17.5 and macOS 14.5 are out, and while there are some pretty handy new features for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, the big news is that European users will be able to download iPhone apps directly from websites.
The new third-party tracker alerts, FaceTime improvements, a battery-health readout on the iPad, and the cool new word game in Apple News are all available in the US, whereas the ability to “sideload” apps directly from websites is EU-only, and restricted to the iPhone—the iPad remains as locked down as ever. This is great news for our EU-dwelling, iPhone-using friends, but wouldn’t it be better if Apple dropped its restrictions worldwide?
“The progressive conversation on tech regulation, and a parallel focus on expanding consumer choice, suggests a similar regulatory environment could develop in the US,” Jonathan Feniak, general counsel at LLC Attorney, told Lifewire via email.
Update Cycle
For the past few years, Apple has moved away from dumping all the new features into the annual fall releases of its various operating systems and instead spreads them out over the year. In the past, this has given us some huge updates mid-cycle, like when Apple added the completely new, rethought mouse compatibility to the iPad (and launched the Magic Keyboard with trackpad at the same time).
This is great for both users and for Apple because there’s no need to rush features or release them before they’re done, which—in theory—leads to fully-baked features that are relatively bug-free.
Before we get to side-loading, lets; look at a few of the bigger additions in these coming updates, available now in beta. The funnest one is a new daily word game called Quartiles, which lives inside the Apple News app, and is only available to those paying an Apple News+ subscription.
We also get third-party tracker alerts, so iPhone users will be alerted to the presence of suspicious trackers using Google’s network. This brings it to parity with Google’s own Find My Device network, which launched a week or so back, and can already alert users to Apple’s AirTags.
FaceTime users will be able to “block all participants” in a call, which I guess will be the virtual equivalent of storming out of the conference room and slamming the door.
iPad users are not left out, either. We’ll be getting the same battery-health stats that iPhone and Mac users already enjoy, telling you how much of the original maximum capacity you have left, for example.
OK, that’s enough of that. Let’s get to the App Store stuff.
Wishful Thinking
Apple has been slowly worn down by the European Commission’s DMA (Digital Markets Act) laws, which identify big influential tech companies, and force them to play fair. Apple started by allowing alternative iPhone app stores in the EU, but insisted on still charging developers a whole bunch of money (50 Euro cents per user, per year, after certain criteria are met, which is around $0.53).
The rub was that these app stores had to let other developers sell their wares through them, so you couldn’t make a store just for your own apps, and you had to open up your books to Apple to make sure you weren’t holding back any of “its” money.
There has been some back and forth between Apple and the EC, and the current state of play is that Apple is allowing software developers to offer downloads directly from their websites.
Now, you’d hope that this meant that apps would be free of Apple’s app review process, but no. A clipboard app from Alt Store proprietor Riley Testut, called Clip, runs in the background so it can capture your clipboard for you. But even though it is not available in the official App Store, Apple still refused to “notarize” it because it broke App Store rules, in this case, running in the background.
Apple claims over and over that its App Store review process protects users, but it’s often the opposite. Because we have been trained to trust the App Store completely, we’re not prepared for all the scam apps that Apple actually publishes there.
“Inexperienced users have been getting tricked into downloading apps that could expose their data, steal their credentials, and worse from Apple’s App Store for years,” said Apple expert Sw1tcher in a forum thread, sharing a long list of fake and scam apps that Apple has inspected, reviewed, and then blessed for inclusion in its official App Store over the years.
Meanwhile, Mac users have been “sideloading” apps since 1984, and they’re doing just fine.
Hopefully, once Apple finally stops fighting the DMA and does the right thing, the US will enact similar laws. And the best part is that Apple won’t be able to argue that it can’t be done, or that it’s not safe, because the entire EU will be evidence that it can, and it is.
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- Europe's New App Store Laws Could Come To The US
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