When Apple launched the first iPhone, there was no App Store. It took a few months before that came and opened up an entirely new world for software developers. Since then, billions of apps have been created and released – all of them vetted and distributed through the App Store. Back then, the mobile phone market was far more fractured with Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Palm and a bunch of others releasing their own take on the smartphone.
Flash forward to today and we have a duopoly. on one side, there’s Apple with iOS and on the other, there’s Google and Android. And while Apple and Google play an ongoing game of oneupmanship with their software there remains one glaring difference. Google allows users to load applications without going through their Play Store while Apple makes this a practical impossibility.
For a while, enterprising folk found ways to bypass Apple’s controls. This was usually one by investigating and using a vulnerability that allowed apps to be loaded directly. This was termed ‘jailbreaking’. But with each successive software update, Apple closed down the ability to jailbreak an iPhone to the point where it’s barely worth the effort, especially as many of the most popular features that jailbreakers are looking for have been added by Apple to its core software.
The European Union’s new Digital Markets Act will has two main goals:
EU DIgital Markets Act
- to create a safer digital space in which the fundamental rights of all users of digital services are protected;
- to establish a level playing field to foster innovation, growth, and competitiveness, both in the European Single Market and globally.
The Act will govern what the EU calls “Gatekeeper online platforms” that it says are Bottlenecks” between customers and services. If the Act is passed as it is currently written, Apple will need to change its approach to app loading in early 2024.
Apple’s head of software engineering Craig Federighi, said back in 2021, that “There’s a clear consensus here, and it’s that side-loading undermines security and puts people’s data at risk.”
The problem with this statement is that it almost totally undermines the the responsibility of the user. I can load software from almost anywhere on my Mac. It is my responsibility to do appropriate research to ensure I am purchasing from a reputable developer and that I have appropriate risk mitigations in place to protect data loss or damage to my system. When I purchase software through the App Store (iOS, iPAdOS or macOS) I have outsourcing those activities because I trust Apple to have appropriately vetted the apps it distributes on behalf of software developers.
Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen Apple put controls in place to better inform users when an app is doing something that is potentially harmful. For example, when an app asks for access to photos, contacts or even to copy/paste we are prompted to conform we’re happy with that. If side-loading apps is allowed by Apple, we can expect those controls to be bolstered further.
It’s important to note that the EU is not outlawing the App Store. What it’s doing is giving users the power to choose how we load apps. And with that power comes responsibility.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.