The world is changing: Japan to force Apple to allow sideloading on iOS

Long story short, Japan's Fair Trade Commission is said to be working on new regulation that would make it mandatory for Apple to allow sideloading on iOS.

Apple has long been resisting the enabling of sideloading on iOS ever since the platform's birth in 2007, but it's beginning to look more and more like the end of an era is coming.

First, it was the EU, which ruled that Apple has until March 2024 to allow users to sideload apps on their iPhones. Sideloading basically means that you can download and install apps from other places than Apple's App Store, such as third-party application stores or from the web. Certain code within iOS 17 beta versions has already been found that looks like proof Apple is working on allowing sideloading.

However, based on the code, it appears Apple is preparing to geo-target the feature, meaning it'll probably enable it only in those markets which are forcing it to do it. So far this is the EU, but a new report from Nikkei Asia says that Japan's FTC is also preparing a similar law.

The new set of rules prepared by Japan's regulators actually cover a number of areas, like app stores, payments systems and search engines. Along with allowing users to install apps on their iPhones from wherever they wish, it's also expected that third-party payment systems will have to be allowed, meaning Apple's cut from sales and in-app purchases could see a reduction.

All of these regulations will be in effect for both Apple and Google, and while Google has traditionally allowed users to sideload apps, their in-app purchase revenue might also take a hit.

Sideloading is extremely easy to do on all other major platforms like Windows, MacOS and Android. However, iOS was conceived as a very tightly integrated platform from the very beginning, which allowed Apple to build an insanely rich and lucrative app economy.

And while the days of milking that cow as hard as possible may be coming to an end, this certainly won't present a catastrophe to Apple's business. In a way, it'd be just the next logical step in the evolution of iOS, which has been getting more and more open with time. Sure, Apple has been trying to control the pace of this opening as much as possible, but hey, even if these new rules out of the EU and potentially Japan might be a bitter pill to swallow for the tech behemoth, hopefully Tim Cook and company will manage to find some sort of silver lining and use this moment as an opportunity to further enhance user experience.

If not, well, users will be able to get their apps from wherever they wish, and potentially pay cheaper in-app purchases, so that's still a win in our book. What remains to be seen if US regulators would, at some point, engage in similar action.