Apple submits to EU pressure on app downloads

iPhone users will no longer be forced through app store

Apple confirmed yesterday that iPhone users within the EU will from ‘later this Spring’ be able to download apps directly from websites

Instead of being forced to go through the App Store or a competing app store, iPhone users will shortly be able to download apps from other websites.

Developers will also be able to link to external pages within their apps without having to follow Apple's guidelines or templates for discounts or other promotional deals. Companies who choose to set up an "alternative marketplace" will also now be allowed to solely distribute their own apps through those platforms.

Apple hasn't done this voluntarily. The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) is now law and mandates that Big Tech ‘gatekeepers' need to start opening those gates to smaller competitors. Apple isn't the only tech giant to make changes, nor is it rolling over completely.

"Distributing apps directly from a website requires responsibility and oversight of the user experience, including the ability to manage apps and provide customer support and refunds," Apple said on a support page posted on Tuesday. "Apple will authorize developers after meeting specific criteria and committing to ongoing requirements that help protect users."

The specific criteria really are very specific such as having to be a member 'of good standing' in the Apple Developer Program for two continuous years at least, and have an app which has had more than one million first annual installs on iOS in the EU in the prior calendar year.

Apple will also still be collecting a 50 euro cent fee for any download outside of App Store.

This isn't the first concession by Apple. The company has been forced to allow competing third-party app stores on its devices, reinstated Epic Games' developer account after a long running antitrust dispute and backed down on removing Home Screen web apps capability.

Apple's position may have been influenced by the €1.84bn fine imposed by the European Commission for abusing its market dominance earlier this month - a fine which was almost four times the size expected.

European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said the European Commission was keen to hear from third parties, to ensure that Apple's new policies comply with the spirit of the law.

"We will want to hear from third parties," Vestager told CNBC on Monday. "Do they get what the DMA is supposed to give them, which is an open market?"