Law on digital markets: Setapp wants to build its own iOS app store

The makers behind the alternative subscription app store Setapp plan to introduce their own offering for the iPhone as soon as Apple opens up the appropriate sideloading options. This was announced by the Ukrainian company on X with. “The ultimate app subscription service for macOS and iOS is planning to launch an alternative app store in Europe,” says Setapp Ltd. “#DMA” and “#DigitalMarketsAct” were used as hashtags, which refer to the forthcoming law on digital markets of the European Union. Those interested can be put on a waiting list.

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How Setapp currently works

Setapp is currently available in the form of a macOS app, but also allows the use of various iOS apps via in-app accounts. The offer is structured as a flat rate – use on a Mac costs $107.88 per year or $9.99 per month. If you also want to use iOS apps, you have to pay $134.88 a year or $12.49 a month. If you want to use multiple Macs, you can use a Power User subscription, which starts at $14.99 a month ($161.88 a year). Over 240 applications are currently available.

So far, Setapp software has been installed on the iPhone via Apple’s App Store; after that you have to register separately in order to activate the software. With a separate offer, this could be done in one step and simplify use. Exactly what the Setapp app store will look like is still unknown – as is when it will start. This depends both on the political framework and on Apple itself, which has massively criticized the compulsion for sideloading in the EU.

DMA opens Apple’s platform

The DMA is expected to come into force in spring 2024. Apple must therefore lay the foundations for this already in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, which will be released in the fall. For security reasons, Apple has so far strictly rejected the possibility of iPhone owners downloading apps that do not come from Apple’s App Store directly onto the device. There are also no app stores operated by other providers.

Software boss Craig Federighi emphasized in an interview in June that they work closely with the EU Commission, but the company does not provide any information on implementation. It would be conceivable that the company would even wait until the start of the DMA, i.e. present alternative providers with a fait accompli. In addition to Setapp, various other providers are likely to be interested in their own app stores, including Epic Games, with whom Apple has been involved in a legal dispute regarding platform opening for years.

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