Meta says Apple has made it ‘very difficult’ to build rival app stores in the EU

3 months ago

Thanks to caller regulations, Apple is technically enabling nan creation of replacement iPhone app stores successful nan European Union. But that doesn’t mean ample developers for illustration Meta will bite.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his company’s position connected Apple’s caller policies during Meta’s fourth-quarter net telephone connected Thursday:

“I don’t deliberation that nan Apple point is going to person immoderate quality for us. Because I deliberation that nan measurement they person implemented it, I would beryllium very amazed if immoderate developer chose to spell into nan replacement app stores that they have. They’ve made it truthful onerous, and I deliberation truthful astatine likelihood pinch nan intent of what nan EU regularisation was, that I deliberation it’s conscionable going to beryllium very difficult for anyone, including ourselves, to really earnestly entertain what they’re doing there.”

While Apple maintains that sideloading represents a information threat, nan EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) has forced nan institution to unfastened up nan iPhone successful nan region. The devil is successful nan details, however, and Apple is introducing caller fees that would cripple nan business exemplary of free apps for illustration Meta’s if they are distributed extracurricular of nan App Store.

Zuckerberg’s comments echo complaints from different noted App Store critics, including Spotify, Epic Games, and Microsoft. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has called Apple’s attack to sideloading “hot garbage.” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said it’s “a caller low.” David Heinemeier Hansson, nan creator of Ruby connected Rails and CTO of 37signals, called nan setup an “extortion regime.”

European regulators have said that they will study Apple’s implementation of sideloading aft March 7th, erstwhile nan DMA goes into effect. The EU has nan powerfulness to good companies successful usurpation of nan rule up to 10 percent of their yearly revenue.