The world is changing: Japan to force Apple to allow sideloading on iOS

The world is changing: Japan to force Apple to allow sideloading on iOS،

Long story short, Japan's Fair Trade Commission is reportedly working on new regulations that would force Apple to allow sideloading on iOS.

Apple has long resisted enabling sideloading on iOS since the platform's birth in 2007, but it increasingly seems like the end of an era is approaching.

First, it was the EU that ruled that Apple had until March 2024 to allow users to download apps to their iPhones. Sideloading basically means that you can download and install apps from places other than the Apple App Store, such as third-party app stores or from the web. Some code in beta versions of iOS 17 has already been found, which appears to be evidence that Apple is working on allowing sideloading.

However, from the code, it appears that Apple is preparing to geo-target the feature, meaning it will likely only enable it in markets that require it to do so. So far it is about the EU, but a new report from Nikkei Asia says the Japanese FTC is also preparing a similar law.

The new set of rules prepared by Japanese regulators actually covers a number of areas, such as app stores, payment systems and search engines. In addition to allowing users to install apps on their iPhone wherever they want, it is also expected that third-party payment systems will be allowed, meaning Apple could reduce its sales and in-app purchases.

All of these regulations will be in effect for both Apple and Google, and while Google has traditionally allowed users to download apps, their in-app purchase revenue could also take a hit.

Sideloading is extremely easy to do on all other major platforms like Windows, MacOS, and Android. However, iOS was designed from the start as a very tightly integrated platform, which allowed Apple to create an incredibly rich and lucrative app economy.

And even though the days of treating this cow as harshly as possible are coming to an end, it certainly won't spell disaster for Apple's business. In a way, it would just be the next logical step in the evolution of iOS, which has become more and more open over time. Of course, Apple has tried to control the pace of this opening as much as possible, but hey, even though these new rules coming from the EU and potentially Japan could be a bitter pill to swallow for the tech giant, let's hope that Tim Cook and company will manage to find some sort of glimmer of hope and use this moment as an opportunity to further improve the user experience.

Otherwise, users will be able to get their apps wherever they want and potentially pay cheaper in-app purchases, so it's still a win in our book. It remains to be seen whether US regulators will, at some point, take similar action.