Apple soon promises more flexibility to its users in the EU

The Apple group announced Tuesday that its users in the European Union could soon download applications directly via websites, a response to a new European law and growing pressure from its competitors. This possibility should be effective with the planned launch of a new version of the operating system this spring, the Californian giant said. “We're providing more flexibility for developers who distribute their applications in the European Union, by introducing a new way to deliver them directly from their own website,” Apple said.

Under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a historic legislative arsenal that came into force in the EU on Thursday, six of the world's biggest technology companies, including Apple, are obliged to open their platforms to competition. However, Apple has recently continued to be the target of strong criticism from its competitors, small and large digital companies, accusing it of dominating the market with its App Store platform and of putting obstacles in their way when it comes to creating their own stores. online.

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On Friday, the Cupertino group made an about-face by authorizing Epic Games to develop an application store competing with its own on iPhones in Europe. The feud between Apple and Epic Games had tested the DMA just as it came into force in the EU. At the end of January, the Apple brand had already announced major changes to the iOS system that equips its famous iPhones in order to comply with the Digital Markets Act, changes agreed reluctantly, under pressure from Brussels.

Apple has in fact been one of the most virulent critics of the DMA, a new regulation with which the EU provides itself with a legislative arsenal adapted to the realities of the digital economy. The latter aims both to protect the emergence and growth of start-ups and to improve the choice offered to users.