Apple allows developers distribute apps to EU users directly from their sites

Apple software developers will be able to distribute apps to EU users directly from their websites this spring, the company said on Tuesday, a change that comes in response to the EU’s Digital Markets Act which, among other things, mandates that Apple allow third-party app stores for iPhone and iPad.
Reuters:
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“We’re providing more flexibility for developers who distribute apps in the European Union, including introducing a new way to distribute apps directly from a developer’s website,” Apple said in a blog post.
“Apple will provide authorised developers access to APIs (application programming interfaces) that facilitate the distribution of their apps from the web, integrate with system functionality, back up and restore users’ apps, and more,” the company said.
Other changes include allowing developers who set up alternative app marketplaces to offer a catalogue solely made up of the marketplace developer’s own apps with immediate effect.

Samuel Stolton for Bloomberg News:
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Apple made other moves to bring the App Store into compliance in the EU this year, including restructuring the fee it charges developers. The company scrapped its 30% commission for a cheaper rate of 17%. Instead, it implemented a 3% processing charge for apps that use Apple’s in-app purchasing system and a 50 cent fee per app install for software that’s downloaded more than 1 million times in a 12-month period.

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MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote in December 2022:
Those who want safety, security, and privacy will stick to Apple’s App Store, but a single point of control is always a danger, especially when it comes to capricious censorship (see: pre-Musk Twitter, Apple’s App Store in China, etc.).
iPhone and iPad users must, like Mac users, have the ability to install third-party apps; even if they never do, for it will keep Apple honest. The ability to ban an app loses all power when it’s simply available in another App Store.
These moves, including removing the mandate to use WebKit, Apple’s Safari browsing engine, in third-party browsers,will greatly reduce, if not eliminate, the threat of anti-trust actions against Apple for the foreseeable future.
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