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Apple has made the first beta of iOS 17.4 available to the public, including the changes made to accommodate new laws which will come into place within the EU starting from March 2024.

Thanks to the EU's new Digital Markets Act, iPhone users in Europe will soon be able to download apps from third-party stores and directly from developers. New safeguards have also been put in place.

Reports are surfacing that iPhone users in the EU will be able to download and install apps from third party app stores starting from early 2024, in order to comply with Euoprean regulations.

The new report also says that developers may have to pay an extra fee to Apple if they release their apps via a third-party store. The sideloading feature may not be mentioned in the WWDC 2023 keynote

The long-awaited support for sideloading apps on iPhones is likely due to Apple choosing to comply with the EU's recent Digital Markets Act that went into effect on November 1, 2022.

In what seemed to be unthinkable a few years ago, Apple is readying an App Store that is much more open for iOS devices. This is to comply with an EU rule. iPhone users will be able to sideload apps.

While speaking at a summit, Mark Zuckerberg reinstated that Meta is still not happy with Apple's App Store policies, adding that Apple primarily decides what apps get on a device due to their control.

Microsoft has unveiled the "Open App Store Principles" for storefronts. All of them apply immediately to the Microsoft Store while some are gradually being enforced for the Xbox Store.

Apple has detailed the threats that sideloading of apps poses on user privacy and security. An executive has also stated that iOS is not the platform for you if you want to engage in this activity.