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The Digital Markets Act (DMA) officially entered into force in the EU last month. That means Big Tech companies will need to start complying with this new regulation aimed at increasing competition on these companies’ core platforms.
For Apple, one of the biggest outcomes of DMA is that it has made an “alternative marketplace,” essentially a competitor of the App Store, available on the iPhone.
What happens to iPhone users in the EU?
as The Verge It notes that there is currently only one third-party alternative marketplace on iOS available for download for users in the EU. It’s a B2B marketplace for companies to distribute their own internal apps, and it’s called Mobevention.
However, there is much more to come.
Epic Games is the company behind the super popular battle royale game fortnite,already shared the plan We plan to launch our own alternative marketplace on the iPhone soon.
Additionally, Epic Games uses this distribution model to fortnite Returning to iOS for EU users. The game had been removed from Apple’s App Store for nearly four years. fortnite Developers and iPhone makers have publicly clashed over App Store fees and revenue-sharing models.
Apple has already lifted its ban on Epic Games and plans to allow Fortnite on iPhone in the EU
SetApp by MacPaw also arrival In the EU, it’s on the iPhone. Mac users may be familiar with SetApp, a type of Netflix for Mac app. This subscription service costs $9.99 per month and allows users to download and use the more than 200 third-party Mac apps included in the program for as long as they subscribe. SetApp plans to offer similar iOS subscription services to the iPhone through alternative marketplaces.
However, both tech crunch and The Verge An alternative marketplace called note alternative store It will probably be installed on the iPhone first.
AltStore leads the way
alt store, The concept, created by developer Riley Testut, has been around for years as an “alternative marketplace”, even before the concept officially existed. Testut around the world has discovered a workaround that allows his iPhone users to sideload his AltStore and essentially allow him to install AltStore directly onto the device via a PC or Mac. Testut offers a public App Store alternative, similar to how companies install and use internal apps on their employees’ iOS devices, without distributing them through Apple’s official App Store. I found a creative way to make it work on his iPhone.
The AltStore comes with preloaded apps, including Delta, Testut’s Nintendo emulator, and a perfect example of an app that will likely never be approved by Apple for distribution on the App Store.
Testut’s AltStore is currently undergoing Apple’s Alternative Marketplace review process and will be ready to launch as soon as Apple approves AltStore.
Once approved by Apple, AltStore will be available for “official” download in the EU. The alternative marketplace will have two apps at launch. One is the aforementioned Delta game emulator, which is available for free, and the other is a clipboard manager called Clip.
Testut requires users to pay a small fee for Clip, and the app appears to be used to test a very new and unique mobile app subscription model. According to Testut, users will pay for Clip through pledges of $1 or more via creator monetization platform Patreon.
Patreon allows creators to set up a subscription model that allows followers to pay a monthly fee for exclusive content. According to Testut, AltStore will directly integrate Patreon as a payment platform for paid apps.If all goes well, Testut plans to allow other developers to distribute their own apps on his AltStore and monetize them using Patreon’s pledge model.
One thing is holding back more alternative marketplaces
It’s been about a month since the DMA came into effect, so it might be surprising that a ton of alternative marketplaces haven’t yet opened up on the iPhone for EU users.
But there’s a good reason we haven’t seen it yet.
In announcing the alternative marketplace, Apple announced the new “core technology fee“For developers considering distribution through these App Store competitors. Instead of paying 15 to 30 percent of app revenue to Apple like the App Store, developers can get their app’s first annual installs You will pay 0.50 euros for every million copies you use.” This includes free apps. This means that a developer who creates a very popular free app will owe Apple money for its downloads. This is a business cost that has not previously existed in Apple’s official App Store. The same goes for developers who want to distribute their apps via alternative marketplaces. You must comply with Apple’s new terms, including this fee.
The EU has already investigating Apple is asking you to confirm whether these new terms and fees actually violate the DMA.
Therefore, we are sure to see a number of alternative iPhone marketplaces emerge within the EU in the near future. But we will have to wait and see how many actually emerge based on the EU findings.
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