Apple will let people in the EU use different app stores on their Apple devices from March.
Right now, people with an iPhone or iPad can only get apps from the company’s App Store.
Apple says its rules keep users safe.
However, some people say that it unfairly controls the market, forces customers and developers to use only its services, and charges developers a fee of up to 30%.
This means that if developers don’t follow Apple’s rules or don’t want to pay fees, they can’t reach the millions of people who use Apple products.
The UK will not make the changes right now. But they are working on a new law that might make Apple follow the same rules.
Epic, the company that makes Fortnite, took their popular game off the App Store because they didn’t agree with the store’s rules. You can’t find it on the App Store since 2020, but you can still play it on the internet.
In theory, this change could allow iPhone users in Europe to download the Fortnite app from a different app store.
The change happens as the EU’s Digital Markets Act starts working. The new law is meant to make sure big companies that control things like search engines and app stores play fair and don’t give unfair advantages to smaller businesses.
Apple also said it will let people in the EU choose a different web browser instead of using Safari when they first open it.
However, it said that even though it was making strict rules for new apps and stores, it thought that this might make it easier for customers to be at risk of getting viruses, scams, and fraud from apps from other places.
“Today, we are making changes to follow the rules of the Digital Markets Act in the European Union. This will help keep EU users safe from privacy and security risks that come with this regulation,” Apple stated.
The big US tech company sells expensive products and says they provide extra security.
Android apps can now be found in more different stores. However, malware is more common on Android devices than on Apple ones.
The new EU rules and UK proposals both aim to keep markets open and fair so that many companies can do well and compete with each other.