Adam Kos If you thought that the EU's slashing of Lightning was the end of it, that's definitely not the case. After a lot of pressure from the European Union and other governments around the world, it appears that Apple is indeed considering making major changes to iOS and the App Store. Apple's mobile operating system should thus open up even more to third-party applications, including the browser engine and NFC.
In recent years, Apple has greatly loosened the restrictions in iOS on what third-party developers can access. For example, apps can now communicate with Siri, read NFC tags, provide alternative keyboards, and more. However, there are still many other restrictions that may fall with iOS 17.
Alternatives to the App Store
Bloomberg reports that Apple should soon enable alternative app stores for iPhone and iPad. This, of course, as a reaction to the impending regulation EU, when he would avoid a strict regulation or pay fines. It is quite possible that next year we will be installing content on our Apple phones and tablets not only from the App Store, but also from an alternative store or directly from the developer's website.
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But there is a big controversy around it. Apple will lose its 30% commission, i.e. an incredibly huge amount of money, and the customer will be exposed to a security risk. However, everyone will be able to choose whether to pay extra for security and privacy.
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RCS in iMessage
The same regulation sets out a number of new requirements that a software platform owner like Apple must meet. These requirements include, among other things, the aforementioned support for third-party application stores, as well as the interoperability of services such as iMessage. Companies, not just Apple (which is the biggest problem), will have to "open up and work with smaller messaging platforms."
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One possible way to meet this requirement would be for Apple to adopt the "Rich Communication Services" standard, or RCS, which Google and other platforms already support routinely. However, Apple is currently not considering this possibility, mainly because iMessage is beautifully locked up by its sheep in the ecosystem pen. It's going to be a big fight here. On the other hand, few people find it difficult to reach for WhatsApp, Messenger and other platforms to communicate with those who are not on iPhone but on Android.
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API
Due to concerns about possible sanctions, Apple is also said to be working on making its private application programming interfaces, also known as APIs, available to third-party developers. This would lead to a significant change in how iOS works. One of the main restrictions that could soon be lifted is related to browsers. Currently, every iOS app must use WebKit, which is the engine that runs Safari.
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Developers should also have more access to the NFC chip, when Apple still prohibits the use of this technology with respect to payment platforms other than Apple Pay. Furthermore, it should be an even greater opening of the Find network, where Apple is said to greatly favor its AirTags. So it is not enough and it will be interesting to see what the EU will do to make iPhone users "better".
I'm afraid that at that point the benefits of iOS are there, so is the security. So then the difference will be only in the graphical environment. Would the sad end of Apple as we know it? The EU is really evil...🤔
Not being able to access NFC, not being able to access Wi-Fi are benefits? A bit of a distorted reality, isn't it... I have both phones and something doesn't work on each of them because "someone thinks" that the user "doesn't need it"... Some regulations just make sense, especially when there is a duopoly :(