Apple will let users remove its most valuable app, the App Store

Apple will allow iPhone and iPad owners to remove one of its most valuable and prized properties, the iOS App Store, by the end of this year. The change will bring Apple into compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act and create more competition in the mobile ecosystem, and it will only be possible within the EU.

Other apps that users will be able to uninstall through Apple include Messages, Photos, Camera, and Safari.

Currently, these apps cannot be removed from iPhone or iPad.

“We’ll be rolling out changes to the browser chooser, default apps, and app removal for iOS and iPadOS for users in the EU by the end of this year,” Apple quietly announced in an update to developers. “These updates come from our ongoing and ongoing dialogue with the European Commission on compliance with Digital Market Act requirements in these areas.”

Giving users the option to remove the official App Store is a huge step forward. The App Store is how Apple manages the apps that appear on iPhones and iPads, via its app submission guidelines, and apps downloaded through the App Store typically have to use Apple’s payment services for in-app purchases, which results in significant, high-margin revenue for Apple. A third-party app store reduces Apple’s influence over customers, revenue, and their entire experience with their phone or tablet, and opens up new privacy and security concerns.

In addition to the App Store selection option, Apple will create a new browser selection screen for those in the EU.

It also has huge financial implications: Google pays Apple $18-20 billion a year to be the default search engine on Apple mobile devices.

Europeans will soon be able to choose between 12 different browsers.

Google’s well-known Chrome browser is on the list, along with Apple’s Safari, but there are also lesser-known apps like Opera, Microsoft’s Edge, You from SuSea, Mozilla’s Firefox, DuckDuckGo from privacy-focused web search company Brave, and “Browser” from Maple Media Apps. Browsers that were installed more than 5,000 times across all EU App Stores last year may appear on the screen.

The biggest news, though, is that Apple has made it possible to remove the App Store. Right now, it’s the only really viable way to get new apps onto your iPhone or iPad.

There are a few App Store competitors on the market, in various stages of development and use. However, there are some that do not match the capabilities or scope of the official App Store apps:

• Aptoide
• AltStore
• Mobilization
• BuildStore
• Troll Shop
• Valley of Applications

The challenge is that as part of its Digital Markets Act compliance strategy, Apple has launched third-party app stores, meaning developers who opt out of Apple’s traditional App Store must pay a base technology fee for the privilege of running their apps on iOS, which can cost apps hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Each download of AltStore and Mobivention costs their creators 50 cents—a fee that can quickly become unsustainable,” says Callum Booth of The Verge.

The truth is that the way Apple has set up its compliance program makes it nearly impossible to run a profitable business through a third-party app store. The EU is investigating the issue.

In addition to the choice of app stores, Europeans will also be able to choose from other apps.

“In future software updates, users will receive new default settings for dialing phone numbers, sending messages, text translation, navigation, password management, keyboards, and spam filters,” Apple says.