Apple makes its own App Store less convenient in EU

In a bug in the iOS 17.4 beta, EU users face an extra security step when buying from Apple's App Store, to give them the same hurdle facing those who buy from the new rival stores.

Fifteen years after the App Store first opened, users in the European Union are going to see an extra step before they can download apps. Just as with any other app, and presumably any forthcoming rival app store, Apple's App Store will now ask permission before it downloads.

Apparently in the EU, there's an extra step when downloading an app so that the App Store behaves like a 3rd party marketplace (so it's not considered anticompetitive). It's after you authenticate with Face ID.

(That's on 17.4 beta 4) pic.twitter.com/oGwZVSPLcm
— iSoftware Updates (@iSWUpdates) February 23, 2024

First spotted by X/Twitter user iSoftwareUpdates, the new request for permission comes after a user has unlocked their iPhone. It even comes after a user has tapped the Get button in the App Store and confirmed with Face ID that they want to continue.

Regardless of the app chosen, the new security step says "'App Store' would like to install an app." There is then a Learn More option that appears to explain how to "verify the information before installing," though there are no further details yet.

This means that the App Store, in the EU at least, will work the same way as any other app asking permission. Apps ask for permission first when they want to track a user, but then also because they need access to, say, the microphone to work.

Consequently, Apple's App Store is relegated from its previously vaunted position of being automatically trusted. Since it's all but certain to mean that rival App Stores will have to have this step, Apple may be able to argue that it is not giving its own apps preferential treatment.

Currently, Apple is testing all of its new EU features in a developer beta, but it is also battling rivals who want to claim it is disregarding Europe's laws.

Update February 23, 1:36 PM ET In an email to AppleInsider, the company says that the notification is a bug, and will be fixed prior to the March availability of iOS 17.4.

Latest Exclusives

Latest comparisons

7 Comments

Luis.A.Masanti 64 comments · New User

About 8 months ago

Maybe… just maybe… the title should has been… EU's DMA makes the experience of the AppStore less convenient to users because Apple has to add more steps to protect user's choice of privacy and security.

But… of course… remember: Blaming Apple brings page views to your site… a.k.a. ad revenue!

freeassociate2 215 comments · 3 Years

The AI titles and ledes have long had what feels like latent passive aggressiveness, at least to me.

I’ve experienced this form of slanting from editors (and co-workers) in the past and it can be infuriating and frustrating, depending on the causes.

The best anyone can do is to just read other sources and try to do your own research. Hopefully, one day machine learning will help fact check, flag, and filter out poor sources of information. (In fact, this is what I think certain folks fear — that this round of ML is the forerunner of a traceable blockchain-like system of information that’s easily vetted for authenticity or source, plus sources that are vetted themselves. Personally, I can’t wait for systems that can parse information and its sources for bias.)

Cesar Battistini Maziero 402 comments · 8 Years

Apple is being forced to increase security measures because the EU forced them to make the iPhone less secure. Not everyone is tech savvy you know?

xyzzy-xxx 199 comments · 6 Years

Luis.A.Masanti said:

Maybe… just maybe… the title should has been… EU's DMA makes the experience of the AppStore less convenient to users because Apple has to add more steps to protect user's choice of privacy and security.

But… of course… remember: Blaming Apple brings page views to your site… a.k.a. ad revenue!

There is no reason to believe that a 3rd Party App Store has to be less secure than Apple's App Store. OK you might not want to purchase your apps from a source with bad reputation – but in the end it is up to you. Currently it is iOS and not the App Store (review) that protects our privacy (in most cases) and this will be the case in the future.

AppleZulu 2175 comments · 8 Years

xyzzy-xxx said:

Luis.A.Masanti said:

Maybe… just maybe… the title should has been… EU's DMA makes the experience of the AppStore less convenient to users because Apple has to add more steps to protect user's choice of privacy and security.

But… of course… remember: Blaming Apple brings page views to your site… a.k.a. ad revenue!

There is no reason to believe that a 3rd Party App Store has to be less secure than Apple's App Store. OK you might not want to purchase your apps from a source with bad reputation – but in the end it is up to you. Currently it is iOS and not the App Store (review) that protects our privacy (in most cases) and this will be the case in the future.

A third-party app store doesn’t have to be less secure, but it can be. A quick review of the fairly obvious motivations of the app developers most stridently leading the charge to demand the ability to create them underlines the certainty that their third-party app stores will be less secure.

When you consider the most likely reasons why a developer would go out of their way to go to a third-party app store should lead you to suspect the result will be less secure.