Earlier this year, Apple announced major changes coming to iOS users in the European Union following the Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust legislation, which forced the company to allow alternative app stores – or App Marketplaces – on iOS. Now the government of Japan has passed a similar law that will also force the company to allow App Marketplaces for Japanese iOS users.
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An Aptoide iOS game store launches in Europe on Thursday, the third, uh, third-party app store to be announced after Setapp and AltStore.
All three companies are taking advantage of the changes Apple was forced to make in the EU by the Digital Markets Act, which opens up the App Store to competition for the first time …
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Apple has enjoyed a rare App Store antitrust win, as a Chinese court dismissed a lawsuit accusing it of charging excessive commissions.
The iPhone maker is facing an onslaught of antitrust legislation and lawsuits around the world, most notably surrounding the App Store …
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After European legislation forced Apple to allow third-party app stores across 27 countries, Japan is planning to introduce a similar legal requirement.
The antitrust legislation is currently being debated in the Japanese parliament, but is expected to be approved by the end of June …
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Apple has made significant changes to the App Store guidelines in the European Union in order to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust legislation. One of these changes allows developers to release iPhone web browsers with their own engine, but the company is making it difficult for developers to test their apps before releasing them to users in the EU.
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We’ve seen a lot of game emulators showing up on the App Store after Apple changed its guidelines to allow such software. Following the release of Delta, Gamma, and RetroArch, the popular PPSSPP (a PSP emulator) is now available on the App Store for iOS users.
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Apple is continuing its PR offensive to promote the official App Store as the safest place to buy iPhone apps, after antitrust cases forced it to open up its platform to competition. It said that it has blocked more than $7B’s worth of attempted App Store fraud.
The company says that the “potentially fraudulent transactions” were detected and blocked over a four-year period from 2020 to 2023 …
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The US judge who ordered Apple to allow developers to sell apps outside of the official App Store has sharply criticized the way the iPhone maker has responded.
Epic Games went back to court to claim that Apple was not properly complying with the antitrust order, and remarks made by judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers indicate that she is in agreement …
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Apple this week updated its Platform Security guide, which contains in-depth technical information on security features implemented in its products. First released in 2015, the latest update adds six new topics, including first-ever details on BlastDoor 0-click protection and App Store security.
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We learned late last year that a Microsoft iOS app store was in the works, and the company has now announced that this will launch in July.
Initially, it will be limited to Microsoft’s own games, but will later open up to other iPhone game developers, giving them an alternative outlet to Apple’s official App Store …
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Apple’s developer site has long been a massive hub of resources for prospective app developers, but previously there was never a clear path toward getting started.
Today the company launched Pathways, a collection of videos, documentation, and other resources that will walk you step by step through the journey of developing your first app.
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While Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust law forced Apple to allow developers to sell apps outside the company’s own App Store, there were a number of potential problems with the company’s terms and conditions – not least of which is that an unexpected viral hit could have bankrupted an indie developer.
Apple had already made a number of changes to its terms to reduce the risk, and has now added two more protections which should prevent that nightmare scenario …
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Earlier this month, Riley Testut brought his excellent Delta game emulator for iPhone to the App Store for the first time. Now, Riley is teasing Delta’s expansion to the iPad – giving users a way to emulate games from many retro game systems on a bigger screen.
Head below for a first look.
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Apple is cracking down on a category of AI image generation apps that “advertised the ability to create nonconsensual nude images.” According to a new report from 404 Media, Apple has removed multiple AI apps from the App Store that claimed they could “create nonconsensual nude images.”
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Last week, Apple was forced by the Chinese government to pull four apps from the App Store in China: Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Threads.
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has now responded to the situation, arguing that Apple was the real target of China’s request. There are more than a few problems with this spin, though…
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Apple surprised everyone earlier this month with a change to the App Store guidelines that now allows retro game console emulator apps for its platforms, including iOS and tvOS. Following the success of Delta, the developers behind Provenance have now confirmed that they will soon release it on the App Store, bringing PlayStation emulation to iPhone and iPad users.
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The game emulation situation on iOS just got real. The oft rejected game emulator Delta has finally made its way to the App Store. Additionally, the Delta developer has also published their alternative marketplace, AltStore, in the EU today.
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Phil Schiller has told a court in an antitrust case that he doesn’t know for sure whether the App Store is profitable, and never considered the return on investment when launching it.
He’s also explained the reason that there are very few written records of decisions made around the launch of the store is because Apple co-founder Steve Jobs felt that meeting notes were unnecessary – and the company still doesn’t record minutes for meetings between senior execs …
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Earlier this month, Apple revised its App Store Guidelines to permit game emulator apps for the first time. On Saturday, one of the first such apps was approved: iGBA. This app allowed users to import and play ROMs download from the internet. On Sunday, however, the app was pulled from the App Store without full explanation.
Apple has now provided more clarity on why iGBA was removed from the App Store after initially being approved.
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Update: The app has now been removed from the App Store. Original story below.
Apple changed the App Store rules last week to seemingly permit game emulators on the iPhone for the first time.
Following that policy change, the first emulator apps are now appearing on the store. iGBA is a free Game Boy game emulator for iPhone and iPad, which can indeed load and play ROMs downloaded to the device — a category of application that Apple would have unequivocally rejected a fortnight ago.
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A UK court has ruled that a near billion dollar developer lawsuit against Apple will be allowed to proceed, after the iPhone maker attempted to get it dismissed.
The £785M ($979M) antitrust lawsuit was filed on behalf of more than 1,500 British developers, and alleges that Apple’s monopolistic control of the market for iPhone apps allowed the company to charge ‘abusive’ levels of commission on app sales …
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The European Union is investigating Apple’s response to a Spotify complaint, to determine whether the anti-steering changes made by the Cupertino company are sufficient to comply.
Update: GamesFray had suggested that this amounted to a fourth DMA non-compliance investigation into Apple, but it’s now my understanding that they have misinterpreted remarks made by a regulatory risk company …
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After the EU commission fined Apple $2 billion and announced that it’s not satisfied with the changes the company made to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple on Friday updated the App Store guidelines again. This time, the company is making it easier for music streaming apps to redirect users to an external website in the EU. And for the first time, Apple will allow game emulators on its platforms.
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If you’ve been experiencing problems when trying to access the App Store, it’s not just you. The App Store is currently down for users around the world. Although Apple is yet to acknowledge the problem, many people have been complaining about an ongoing outage affecting the App Store.
Update: Apple has updated its System Status to confirm that App Store is down. Apple Arcade, Apple Books, Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple Sports, Apple TV+, and Apple Podcasts are also facing outages.
Update #2: Apple says that the outages have been resolved and its services are back online.
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