EU Apple iPhone users welcome third-party app stores, but there is a 'grace period' when traveling abroad

According to news on March 6, with the release of Apple’s official version of iOS 17.4, iPhone users in the EU can already use third-party app stores other than the App Store. However, Apple warns that when EU users travel outside the EU, there will be a "grace period" for the functions of these third-party app stores, after which some functions will not be available.

Noted that according to the support document released by Apple, if users only leave the EU for a short period of time, they can still continue to access third-party app stores during the "grace period". But if you leave it for too long, you will lose some functions, such as being unable to install new third-party app stores. Additionally, already installed third-party app store apps will still work but will not be updated through the store. At present, Apple has not announced the specific length of the "grace period". Apple allows EU users to access third-party app stores in order to comply with the relevant provisions of the EU’s Digital Market Act. The bill will come into force in all 27 EU member states on March 7. This means that for the first time, EU users will be able to download apps from app stores other than the App Store. In iOS 17.4, EU users can set their preferred third-party app store as the default app store on their device due to privacy, security, and potential risks. In addition, parents can decide whether to allow their children to install apps from third-party app stores on their devices through Screen Time settings. To access the third-party app store, the country or region of the user's Apple ID must be set to one of the EU member states, and the user himself needs to be in the EU. Apple says a device's eligibility to access third-party app stores is determined through device-side processing, and only eligibility indicators are sent to Apple. To protect user privacy, Apple does not collect device location information. The first third-party app store for EU users will go online this week. German IT services provider Mobivention will launch its Mobivention app store for business users on Thursday, MacPaw has also announced it will launch its third-party app store in April, and Epic Games is also planning to launch its own app store. It should be noted that these changes only apply to the EU region and do not apply to iPadOS systems.

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