Apple updates rules surrounding EU DMA compliance to address developer concerns
Developers in the EU have improved the ability to sign up for Apple's updated terms, a one-time exit clause, and new eligibility criteria that should address many concerns.
Apple updates how developers are affected by its EU DMA compliance
After Apple announced how it would handle the European Union Digital Markets Act, it was called malicious compliance by some. After meeting with developers and copious feedback, Apple has made some changes to those rules days before the DMA goes into effect.
According to information provided by Apple and updated documentation, the terms have had three significant changes made to address developer concerns. It'll be easier to create an alternative marketplace and undo the new contract if needed.
The new rules created by the DMA are not required for developers. The developer must opt-in and sign an addendum agreeing to new rules regarding how Apple gets a commission.
Apple has removed the corporate entity requirement that made it so every account attached to a company had to sign the contract addendum. It is now controlled on the account level, allowing a business to manage multiple developer accounts with different rules in and out of the App Store.
A primary concern surrounding Apple's new EU rules was the Core Technology Fee, which would require developers to pay a half euro for each annual install over a threshold of 1 million. This rule could cause financial trouble for apps like Widgetsmith that wouldn't make enough money to cover a sudden $50k bill due to a spike in popularity.
Now, if a developer approaches the one million download mark, there is a single chance to back out of the new contract. The developer can terminate the addendum and return to having an app in the App Store with the usual 30% or 15% cut.
That one-time escape clause can be activated at any time. However, if the developer signs the addendum again, there's no going back.
Finally, Apple has made it easier for developers to create alternative app marketplaces by not requiring a standby letter of credit under certain circumstances. If the developer's account has existed for two years and has an established app business in the EU with more than 1 million first annual installs, the entity could open an alternative marketplace without the standby letter of credit.
The ability to run alternative app marketplaces or download apps from outside of the App Store is enabled by iOS 17.4. Apple released iOS 17.4 to the public earlier on Tuesday.
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Comments
I’ll enjoy watching these app stores fall on their faces
As long as the operating system has the necessary protections to “sandbox” security on a per app-level and the app not having the ability to touch things like the kernel or system level services, it’s perfectly fine to place the responsibility in the user’s hands when it comes to downloading from other sources.
It reduces what can be a mature dialogue to personal attacks, and this keeps happening on this forum.
It is just a matter of time before these rules become the new standard. EU is considered a perfect pilot for the US and other territories.
Meh. Lots and lots of many dumb people with iPhones. Their responsibility until they start crying to Apple about their compromised iPhone.
Just the other day a friend's friend was showing us some page to purchase Watch faces from within the Facebook app. No matter how many times we explained it wasn't from Apple's app store he just kept pointing at his iPhone saying it was an Apple iPhone. He was really confused of why we were telling him he was going to purchase something inside his Facebook app and he kept insisting he was buying it from Apple. LMAO!
This is the future of alt app stores and dumb people just being ignorant.
when people make outright lies like this you get surprised when people make snarky comments back?
You can see iOS as a free, large application with a bootloader, and the ability to add extensions to it. Therefore, Apple has the full right to decide what extensions ("apps") you can download and add to it. This is the way things have been in the digital world since the dawn of times. So, I would say that liberty matters as much as it ever did.
Honestly, why do you need to force your personal worldview on everyone? You want a phone which you're free to hack to your heart's content? There are plenty of Linux based phones which give you all the freedom you want. Apple is designing phones for the average person who doesn't know or care about the intimate details of technology, and just wants something which is easy to use and protects them when they may accidentally do something they shouldn't because they don't know why they shouldn't.
In regard to Mac vs iPhone, the big difference between a computer and a phone is that there is a lot more personal information on a phone than there is a computer. Also, a phone is almost always connected to the internet, whereas a computer tends to only connect sporadically (talking about computers as used by the average person, not an enthusiast). Those two things make a phone a much more lucrative target for scammers and thieves. And why Apple goes to great lengths to keep the average person protected, even if they might unwittingly do things which the tech elite consider to be obvious and stupid. Because not everyone has the same interest in/aptitude for technology, nor should they need to.
When I look at all the shady things modern tech companies do behind the scenes (data harvesting, using human psychology to addict people to social media, using bots to push an agenda, etc), I honestly question the motivation of the tech elitist "freedom fighters" and wonder if they're actually just trying to find more ways to scam the average person for profit.
To the sky is falling fear mongers about security, question, is the Mac so unsafe to use? Do you really want to make that argument? I am arguing for the exact same security model that keeps the Mac safe be applied to iOS and iPadOS. There really is no excuse not to do so other than power and money. If you're opposed to it you have to concede the Mac is unsafe. It is sick to watch so many 'progressives' defend a large corporations' profits and power.
As someone who looks at the big picture of money, control, and power (and has protested against real world problems like human exploitation by corporations and governments) my biggest fear these days certainly isn't with Apple locking down their devices (as they've always done). My biggest fear is the corporations and large organizations who have the money and motivation to manipulate public viewpoints via social media for their own personal gain/power.
And I believe that's exactly what's happening here. The big shift to companies profiting from information (i.e. all the investment in AI) has those companies looking to profit from knowing everything you're doing. And knowing what people do on their iPhones all day would be hugely lucrative. So much so that, investing in targeted social media campaigns trying to convince people that Apple is limiting their personal freedom (advancing their true agenda, which is to force Apple to remove privacy controls) would certainly be worth it.
The reality is that people are free to buy a different phone, just as they were free to buy a PC instead of a Mac before mobile phones were mainstream. Nothing has changed in that regard. The only thing that's changed now is, with the vast majority of people having always connected/always on devices in their pocket, the ability to know everything people do and get inside their heads for personal gain/power is a temptation many big companies (and governments) can't resist.
And yes, using a Mac is a bit concerning these days. For example, I dabble in electronic music production using a couple of apps (Ableton Live, Serum, etc). When I was browsing Reddit in Safari the other day, suddenly I got a recommendation to join the Ableton and Serum discussion groups. Somehow Reddit was getting information about what I'm doing in other apps, and now it's left me wondering what other information they're able to get ahold of. I'd imagine there are a lot more information siphoning loopholes to exploit on macOS due to most apps not being sandboxed from each other the way they are on iOS.
People seem to forget past development costs.
- Developer accounts were way more than $99.
- Documentation was in the form of expensive books
- Distribution required duplicating discs, then CDs and today web sites, etc.
- Advertising is never cheap
Today...- Developer accounts are relatively inexpensive at $99
- Documentation is free.
- Distribution & Advertising
- Yes, today you can stand up a web site, not free.
- Yes, you can use an alternative app store, also not free.
- Oh, you plan to use social media to advertise...good luck only works, if people know you exist.
Hopefully, we'll see a migration of a lot of the junk apps to these other stores. It will only server to improve the value of Apple's app store search.Inside Macintosh was never free and all 5 volumes cost a small fortune.
Trying to compare Linux development to developing a Mac application with real development and testing is comparing Apple to Oranges. Not anywhere near the same thing.