During the spring, Apple promised to release an update that will allow European iOS users to download apps directly from developer websites.
The innovation has enough nuances. According to Apple's official website, the new functionality will be available only to those developers who:
- registered in the Apple Developer Program as a European company (or having a "daughter" in Europe);
- They have been well-established participants in the Apple Developer Program for the past two years;
- They operate an application that has been downloaded over a million times from iOS in Europe over the past year.
In addition, the developer must also:
- offer to download only the application that is already in the developer account;
- to offer applications for download that meet the notarial requirements of the platform;
- allow you to download applications exclusively from the domain of the website that is registered in the App Store Connect;
- respond to Apple's requests regarding these applications.
Simply put, not every developer will get this opportunity. According to The Verge, Apple generally plans to take on the authorization of those teams that want to do distribution on the web.
The matter is not limited to a large list of requirements and the need to receive a "blessing" from Apple. We remind you that developers who resort to this type of distribution will have to pay Apple 0.5 euros for each download of an application that has crossed the threshold of one million installations per year. And it doesn't matter if the downloads were from the web or from the App Store.
But that's not all. Just like that, a European user will not be able to download applications from the web. To do this, he will first have to go to the iPhone settings and "approve the developer to download applications."