• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, August 8, 2024

Apple on Thursday announced changes to its App Store after the European Union accused the iPhone maker of breaking EU landmark new digital rules.

The EU said the App Store terms prevented app developers from pointing consumers to alternative ways to pay. It made Apple the first technology company to be accused of breaching a new law — the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Apple said it plans to comply with the changes.

The updates were posted to the Apple developer blog, which explains changes to external linking processes that give developers the ability to direct customers to non-App Store purchase options.

Developers can provide information about lower prices outside of the ‌App Store‌, more affordable subscriptions, or any other available offer within or outside of the app.

External links and offer pages can include explanations and instructions about how customers can subscribe to offers. Links with parameters, redirects, and intermediate links to landing pages are now permitted.

There is also evidence that Apple Intelligence could launch on Macs in the EU, despite the Digital Markets Act, while iOS users wait for AI features amid ongoing regulatory challenges.

Apple Intelligence is a suite of generative AI capabilities that Apple expects to integrate into the next generation of its devices running on iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. Regulatory uncertainties were thought to have slowed the release.

Beta versions of the operating systems have been available to developers since July 29 in the U.S. The platform includes features such as prioritization of key notifications, web page and voice note summaries, and tools to improve writing. Improvements around Siri and integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT are also available.

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