Apple is subject to strict regulation from the European Union and the conflict over compliance (or not) with the Digital Markets Act that we talked about so much last year. This law forced Apple to radically change your economic model in the European Union including major changes. These changes occurred notably in the iOS 17.4 update for the iPhone. However, the EU took a further step last April force Apple to include these same functions in the iPad
iPadOS 18 beta 2 meets EU requirements
The European Union already informed Apple in April that It should include any changes made to iOS on the iPad via an iPadOS software update. In fact, the EU gave Apple six months of margin to reassess the situation and if it did not comply with the demands, a fine of one million dollars would be imposed for non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act which we talked so much.
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Europe forces iPad to also have alternative stores
Just yesterday Apple released the second developer beta of iPadOS 18 and it is in this version that Features introduced in iOS 17.4 have been introduced. These features include support for alternative stores, changes to app distribution through locations other than the App Store, and changes to alternative browser engines. This announcement was made via the official website:
Changes to European Union (EU) apps, currently available to iOS users in all 27 EU member countries, can now be tested in iPadOS 18 beta 2 with Xcode 16 beta 2.
Additionally, the Web Browser Engine Rights Addendum for EU Apps and the Built-in Browser Engine Rights Addendum for EU Apps now include iPadOS. If you have already signed one of these addenda, be sure to sign the updated terms.
With this decision, Apple responds to its intention to comply with European legislation and removes the fine for violating the law in these terms. It’s likely that the final version of iPadOS 18 will be released around September or October with a public beta available to everyone in July.
