iOS 17.2 hints at Apple moving towards letting users sideload apps from outside the App Store

9to5mac.com iOS 17.2 hints at sideloading apps from outside the App Store

Apple has been under pressure in the European Union as the Digital Markets Act antitrust legislation requires the company to...

iOS 17.2 hints at Apple moving towards letting users sideload apps from outside the App Store::undefined

65 comments

Great. I'm looking forward to hearing all the Apple zealots change their tune on side-loading from "iOS is more secure because it doesn't allow side-loading " to "side-loading is amazing, I'm so glad Apple invented it!"
- I fully expect they will make it challenging and plastered with scary warnings.
  
  I’m ok with that.
  
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- I’ve had iPhones for 15 years now. I’ve wanted side loading the entire time. It’ll be nice if I can do that without jailbreaking, but I won’t be holding my breath.
  
  This is probably the main reason why I don't use an iphone. I was surprised I had to jailbreak for such a simple functionality when I first got my iphone 4. That was my first and last iphone.
  
  Where were you when I was arguing with some dude on Reddit about how people "buy iPhones specifically because they can't sideload" 🙃
  
  Like no, there are lots of genuinely good reasons to buy an iPhone... This is not one
  
  You can already sideload by using AltStore. There is some drawbacks but it’s worth it
  
  Why not just get an Android phone instead of encouraging the company that doesn't want you to do what you want?
- No no, they will say that apple does it the right way. Instead of downloading and installing a file like a peasant, you will do it through x-code, using your paid developer account only available on Apple hardware. And of course with massive limitations that apps from the app store don't have.
  
  I'm only half joking, I really expect Apple to make it the most miserable experience, to them say "well, nobody is doing it!"
- man i wish side-loading was real
- LOL
For everyone rejoicing in this thread, there's no way Apple will allow this outside the EU. From the article:

We also found references to a region lock in this API, which suggests that Apple could restrict it to specific countries. This wouldn’t make sense for MDM solutions, but it does make sense for enabling sideloading in particular countries only when required by authorities – such as in the European Union.

I want side loading as much as the next guy, but Apple will only do the bare minimum to appease the EU regulations. Suck for those of us outside the EU.
- Yeah, software is way easier to manage over borders than hardware - they already do that with their different App Stores. The comparison to USBC isn’t valid.
  
  However, I wonder if it would be easy enough to trick your device into thinking it’s somewhere else. Recently had to download an app from the US App Store (I am Canadian) and all it took was creating a new account and declaring my country as USA. If it was that easy, I’m sure plenty of people would be happy enough making an alt Apple ID for side loading.
  
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- Just move to the EU and you won't have that problem.
- Will setting language to UK be enough?
  
  On that line of thinking Ireland might be a good choice - they speak English and are still in the EU.
  
  Not sure the UK would be a valid option, the laws that the EU are passing now aren't making their way to the UK anymore so if Apple wanted to be thorough they'd block it in the UK too
  
  We don't know yet, but the rumor mill says the setting will be geo locked. So probably not.
F-Droid for iOS?
- How about F-apple (read without the "-") ;)
  Would be kinda funny though
  
  F-App Store
As a current iPhone owner the one thing I miss about android is how easy it was to install apps from outside the play store.

Maybe we will get a better web browser one day!
- Firefox isn't available for iPhone ?
  
  It is, but apple forces all browsers to be reskinned safari under the hood
  
  Only safari (webkit} shells. There's been rumors of apple preparing to open up that requirement for appstore approval, but hasn't happened yet as far as I know.
  
  Honestly that, and not being able to side load, are the only things holding me from switching. Yes I could get a pixel and install graphene OS on it, but I don't have time for that anymore and I just want a simple solution that gets support out of the box, and allows me to run the apps I want.
This will be huge. I wonder if this way we could also get non-WebKit browser on iOS someday.
- Yes, we will. This was also specifically demanded by the EU and has to be implemented by March 6th 2024.
  
  It’s being said that Google and Mozilla already have iOS-versions of Chrome and Firefox ready for this.
- This is the last thing holding Google back from total domination of the web browser space. You know most people will just download Chrome when something doesn't work, since they already use it on their PC/Mac.
  
  While I don't think that holding users hostage is the best thing to do, the reality is that enough people just don't care, and the iPhone and iPad's popularity forces web devs to make their sites work on Safari and not just Chrome. Once a real Chrome is available on iOS, all bets are off.
  
  There was a huge gush over Chrome by developers and powerusers, influencing many many users to adopt Chrime; the same gush that happened over IE back in the day.
  
  Everyone developed everything for IE. Had to have it to be on a wide segment of the web. Same way with Chrome now.
  
  People have started falling off of Chrime /Google browsers just as they did Microsoft and IE; both times users finally realizing just how shite the company and browser were/are.
  
  You can run Chrome on an iPhone now.
- Is firefox on iOS a webkit wrapper? https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browsers/mobile/ios/
  
  Yes, all browsers on iOS are
  
  Unfortunately, yes.
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Really hope it won't be just in the EU but it seems likely to be that way :/
- Time to switch to buying my upgrades when I visit family in Europe.
Can’t wait to see how this will be an implementation designed to be crippled, like they did with web push (why can’t i enable non silent notifications?)
- You're right on the money. They're trying to region lock it. Unlikely that US and possibly UK customers will get it.
  
  We also found references to a region lock in this API, which suggests that Apple could restrict it to specific countries. This wouldn’t make sense for MDM solutions, but it does make sense for enabling sideloading in particular countries only when required by authorities – such as in the European Union.
Thank you EU 🇪🇺
If sideloading happen I will buy a spanking new iPhone 15 Pro. It’s the one big thing that is missing that Android has
- Wait, what? Every version of Android has been able to sideload. I do it for at least one app on a monthly basis
  
  You're reading it wrong from his intent. He means that's the one thing android has that apple doesn't.
  
  Sorry for the confusion and thanks to ColeSloth for clarifying. I fixed the text.
Getting ahead of the court order I presume.
- Kinda? They have to do it soon, and betas are where they would do it. They wouldn’t just make a “last day possible” update, that would just be bad development practice. Imagine if they were delayed.
Finally! I have been interesting in developing some apps for personal use, but I don’t want to pay a developer fee and go through the App Store. It’s so much hassle.
Just give me a N64 emu and an Arduino IDE
Wait is this Europe only still?
I remember when that was just how it was.
- Ah yes, the fabled year of two thousand and didn't happen.

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