iOS 17.5 Beta 2 Enables Downloading iPhone Apps Directly From Websites in the EU
- Laurent Giret
- Apr 16, 2024
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Apple has released today the second beta of iOS 17.5, which enables the distribution of iPhone apps via the web in the EU. This is one of the concessions Apple is making in the EU after the Digital Markets Act required the company to allow alternative app stores in the region.
“Web Distribution lets authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to users in the European Union (EU) directly from a website owned by the developer. Apple will provide developers access to APIs that facilitate the distribution of their apps from the web, integrate with system functionality, and back up and restore users’ apps, once they meet certain requirements designed to help protect users and platform integrity,” Apple explained in a post on its developer website today.
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As usual with Apple, Web Distribution comes with a lot of asterisks for developers. I already detailed the various requirements in a previous post for the iOS 17.5 beta 1, but here’s a reminder:
- Developers will need to be enrolled in the Apple Developer Program for over two continuous years.
- To be eligible for Web Distribution, apps will need to have more than one million first annual installs in the EU in the prior calendar year.
- Apps will need to meet the same “Notarization” requirements as apps distributed on alternative app stores in the EU.
- Developers will need to pay Apple’s €0.50 Core Technology Fee for each app install after an app crossed one million installs the past 12 months.
For iPhone users in the EU, iOS 17.5 also won’t make it exactly easy to download apps directly from a website: Users will first need to approve a developer to install apps in their iPhone’s Settings app. After doing that, iOS 17.5 will display a system sheet with information about the app (reviewed by Apple) before the installation begins. While that won’t be as straightforward as downloading an app from the App Store, there’s an argument to be made that non-technical users should probably not be able to download any iPhone apps from the web too easily.