What is the main innovation, in the view of the world community, we should have been pleased with the new iOS 17 ? Well, of course, support for alternative app stores. After all, neither profiles in contacts, nor clipping of URL tags in Safari, nor even the horizontal Standby mode could radically change the user experience. Whether it’s third-party sources of software, which are waiting for both users and the legislature of the European Union. But Apple not only did not present analogues of the App Store , but did not even give a hint that they would ever appear. Well, and how to understand it? Now let’s figure it out.
App Store analogs in iOS 17
Despite the fact that Apple has not introduced the installation of applications on the iPhone from alternative sources , this does not mean at all that it will not appear there. But after all, usually the company presents the innovations of its updates with a margin, and then systematically adds them to the operating system throughout the year. That is, theoretically, this should mean that Cupertino does not even have plans to remove the restriction on downloading software from outside the App Store . But not everything is so simple.
Despite the fact that Apple has not introduced the installation of applications on the iPhone from alternative sources , this does not mean at all that it will not appear there. But after all, usually the company presents the innovations of its updates with a margin, and then systematically adds them to the operating system throughout the year. That is, theoretically, this should mean that Cupertino does not even have plans to remove the restriction on downloading software from outside the App Store . But not everything is so simple.
The very fact that Apple hasn’t shown an App Store equivalent can only mean that the company simply doesn’t see it as an innovation. In any case, positive for itself. Simply put, Cupertino does not see something good in the emergence of alternative sources of applications on iOS . Having taken such a step, the company admits that it was cunning when it defended the sideloading ban, and that it did cave in to the requirements of the EU authorities, and now anyone who wants to can bend it .
Install apps on iPhone without App Store
Apple definitely couldn’t let this happen. After all, even if she has to create a toolkit for creating alternative app stores on iOS , it will be better if as few people as possible know about it. Naturally, you can’t hide an awl in a bag. But since the relevant legislation obliging a company to allow software downloads from outside the App Store exists only in the European Union, it would be irrational to suggest to all other countries that they can do this too.
Technically, all that is required from Apple is to remove the ban on downloading applications from third-party sources . It should neither promote this innovation, nor advertise among developers the opportunity to go to a third-party directory. The company probably shouldn’t even create a toolkit that would allow alternative app stores to emerge. Therefore, it was foolish from the very beginning to expect that in Cupertino they would present with pomp that in the future they should deprive them of one of their sources of income.
Will there be App Store alternatives on iOS
At the same time, I have almost no doubts about the prospects for the emergence of analogues of the App Store in iOS. The law is the law, and if the company does not comply with it, it can be in big trouble. Despite the obvious attempts by Apple’s agents of influence to convince the EU authorities and even the court not to accept such a disadvantageous rule, in the end this idea was not successful. Consequently, the Cupertino company has almost no options to prevent alternative app stores from reaching iOS . True, at first, this initiative will not go further than Europe.
However, Craig Federgi, Apple’s VP of Software Engineering, has already confirmed that iOS 17 beta 1, which you can already install , does not support alternative app stores. Moreover, there is apparently no talk of her, and Cupertino does not plan to contribute to their appearance. But the top manager hinted that sideloading – the process of downloading software from the side in the form of installation files, by analogy with Android – will still appear in the OS. When exactly is still unknown. But the fact itself is already about something, yes it says.
