Apple is forced to open up its app ecosystem. On November 1, 2022, the Digital Markets Act, a major move against Big Tech in Europe, came into effect. This DMA forces companies like Amazon, Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft to make third-party applications interoperable and open. A clear example? iMessage should work on Android.

Beyond the benefits that interoperable apps will bring to users of various ecosystems, there are companies that are already laying the groundwork for a third-party app store on the iPhone and iPad that many have dreamed of for years. Despite the good news, there’s little reason to think that these alternative stores could pose a real threat to Apple.

DMA, a new era for Big Tech. Apple will not be alone. The new Digital Markets Law, passed with 539 votes against and 588 in favour, seeks to regulate the obligations and duties of large technology companies. A regulation that applies to all countries of the eurozone and will force Big Tech, among others, to end closed ecosystems.

It’s a particularly heavy blow for Apple, a company with an almost hermetic ecosystem that doesn’t (at least officially) open the doors to sideloading apps from other app stores. By 2024, Apple should be ready to accept third-party stores.

Setapp is already preparing to enter the Apple ecosystem. Setapp was the first app store to be offered as an official alternative for both macOS and iOS. Joining the waitlist is already possible, and with the support of the DMA, Apple is forced to accept it as an alternative to the App Store.

a difficult start. Alternatives like Setapp will make it quite difficult to become an alternative to depth. From where? These stores are their own financing. Currently, advertising in the App Store is not very invasive, and it is not easy to see a future where users are willing to use stores with ads similar to App Gallery or Xiaomi app store.

Those who do not want to prefer the advertising model, as in Setapp, have no choice but to subscribe. When it comes to Setapp, we’re talking about $9.99 per month if we want to use the app on Mac, and $12.49 if we want to use it on iOS (a Mac device and four iOS devices). While iOS users are more likely to pay for apps, subscribing to an app store raises some doubts about mass adoption.

They haven’t finished airing on Android. One need not go far to analyze the status of third-party stores on systems that are massively adopted like Android. Huawei’s lack of access to the Play Store has cost the European market. The App Gallery is becoming an increasingly complete alternative, and in fact, it’s already one of the most important app stores in the world.

Despite this, it closed the year 2022 with 580 million users. The Play Store has 2,500 million monthly users and is simply unrivaled. The rest are minority alternatives like APKmirror, F-Droid, Aurora Store.

Everything will depend on new applications. Given the fact that it is not possible to compete with Apple in downloading conventional apps, the success of new stores will depend, among other things, on the specific alternatives they offer. Stores that want to establish themselves will have to bet on a completely different strategy in the App Store, the queen of iOS and macOS.

Image | james yarema

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