‘Sideloading apps on iPhone and iPad possible from the first half of 2024’

Sideloading apps on iPhones and iPads will reportedly be possible from ‘the first half of next year’. The Digital Markets Act requires Apple to allow the installation of apps from app stores other than the App Store in the EU.

According to Mark Gurman, Apple plans to allow sideloading for iOS and iPadOS in the first half of 2024. The Bloomberg journalist says this in the Q&A section of his weekly Power On Newsletter. An exact date is unknown, but under the DMA, gatekeepers such as Apple must implement the changes no later than March 2024 have implemented. Tech companies such as Meta, Microsoft and Google parent company Alphabet must also meet the requirements.

Sideloading is reportedly ‘highly controlled’ by Apple for security reasons. It is not known exactly what that means. iPhones and iPads may show warnings or ask permission when users want to install an app outside the App Store. The tech giant is also said to be planning to adjust its messaging and payment apps.

If Apple does not comply with the DMA, the tech company risks fines of up to twenty percent of its turnover. In addition, if iPhone users use an app store other than the App Store, developers do not have to pay up to thirty percent of sales to Apple.

Allowing sideloading is not the first change that the EU has forced on the tech giant. Apple is also being forced to swap the Lightning ports in its devices for USB-C. In two years, the company will reportedly be completely finished with that transition. The iPhone 15 is already over, meaning that all new smartphones now have USB-C.