Apple will allow developers enrolled in its program for alternative iPhone application stores in Europe to also have an option to install them directly from a website. Last week, the company released iOS 17.4, the largest update in the history of the Apple mobile, with important changes required by the entry into force of the Digital Markets Law (DMA) of the European Union. . One of the most important is the possibility that from now on there will be alternative stores to the App Store in European territory. To expand the options, starting next spring it will also be possible to install apps directly from web pages.
This option will not be functional until the end of this spring and only for Europe. Developers who take advantage of this possibility will only be able to distribute their applications directly from websites after meeting the same criteria and requirements that Apple has established for those who establish alternative stores. The Cupertino company has indicated that it will verify that the apps that are distributed on the web comply with its basic standards of security and protection of users and the integrity of the iPhone.
This novelty is one of the three that Apple has announced for alternative distribution to its store. Another of these changes will be the possibility for alternative stores to offer a catalog of applications solely from the developer. In this way, it could happen that software companies created stores only for their own products. On the other hand, Apple will also provide greater flexibility so that developers can customize the language of the links and the designs of promotions and offers outside of the Cupertino company’s own design templates.
On a technical level, Apple last week reduced some of the initial requirements it set for developers to install apps on the iPhone. In any case, each application that is installed must have an electronic signature granted by the apple company. The process is called notarization and consists of a review that will be done using a combination of automated tools and human review to verify if the app “is free of known malware and other security threats.”
To be part of the program, the developer will have to pay the Core Technology Fee (CTF), an “element of the EU commercial conditions that reflects the value that Apple provides to developers through continuous investments in the tools, technologies and services that allow them to create and share innovative apps with users around the world. The first million first annual installations are free from any store, the App Store, alternative markets or the web. From that figure, developers must pay 0.50 euros for each first annual installation of more than one million in the last 12 months.
