Apple allowing third-party app downloads in EU may help India, too
NEW DELHI : On Tuesday, Apple announced “more flexibility" in terms of enabling app downloads from outside of its proprietary applications marketplace. While the move is selective to a filtered group of apps, and applicable only in the European Union (EU), industry stakeholders said that the move is of great significance, and will set a global precedent in anti-competition and digital markets regulations across the world—including in India.
Tuesday’s blog post to developers by Apple said that the move represents “a new way to distribute apps directly from a developer’s website." To do this, in the European Union, Apple will allow developers that have been on its app store for at least two years, with apps with at least 1 million downloads, to host an alternative marketplace that can be accessed through web browsers. The move does not represent complete relinquishing of control on Apple’s behalf, which will still continue to charge a service fee from these developers for allowing third-party app downloads and distribution.
Developers, as per Apple’s policy, will only be able to distribute their own apps—and not create a marketplace to allow downloading of any apps. Developers will also be required to “publish transparent data collection policies." Further, while 1 million downloads from a third-party app store would be free, Apple will collect a ‘core technology fee’ of EUR 0.50 ( ₹45) per installation over and above the first one million every year.
Industry stakeholders and experts said that the move may lend precedent to how Big Tech regulation in India progresses in the near future. “This can definitely lend precedent to how Big Tech firms are dealt with by startups and regulators in India, in terms of legal precedent
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