Australia Becomes Latest Region to Require More Competitive iOS App Distribution ⇥ ia.acs.org.au
Tom Williams, Information Age:
Apple has been ordered to open its “walled garden” to allow third-party app stores and alternative in-app payment systems in Australia, in a landmark court decision which the technology giant says it will appeal.
Apple has until at least March 2027 to allow Australian users to download apps through alternative app stores, including direct web downloads, Federal Court Justice Jonathan Beach ruled on Thursday.
Apple is building third-party app store support country by country, under protest, with a different set of rules in each place, and appealing every ruling along the way. They are frustrating developers, and in some cases users, and in many places — governments. This is the most expensive and painful way possible for Apple to support these stores that it seems it will inevitably need to support in more and more places.
It seems unsustainable to keep dripping out rule changes one country at a time, especially as many of them slightly differ in the details even when regulators’ overarching aims are similar. The reasons for the company’s stubbornness — namely: security and privacy — become much less believable as a growing number of regions require alternative distribution channels, essentially without issue.
Apple should just rip off the bandage and do Gatekeeper for iOS.