iPadOS 18 Now Allows Third-Party App Stores, EU Only

In short: iPadOS 18 now officially supports third-party app stores in Europe. Apple fought the Digital Markets Act, which aimed to increase competition and improve user choice in the EU’s single market, but ultimately lost.

The revised app review guidelines now apply to iPadOS 18, the latest version of the operating system designed exclusively for iPad. The operating system will allow European users to access apps from third-party sources beyond the traditional App Store embedded in the operating system.

The change comes after iPadOS was classified as an “essential platform service” under the EU’s Digital Markets Act in April. Apple initially challenged the reclassification, arguing that the platform’s user base was too small to meet the DMA’s requirements. However, the EU ultimately deemed iPadOS and iPad devices as essential “gateways” for European consumers, forcing Apple to comply with the rules in iPadOS 18.

App developers will be required to accept the “Alternative App Terms Addendum” before publishing to third-party stores. Some alternative app markets, such as Setapp Mobile, AltStore PAL, and the Epic Games Store, have already launched on iOS, with similar stores expected to follow soon.

iPadOS 18 brings significant changes to the app ecosystem. One key update is that browsers packaged as iPadOS apps can now use alternative browser engines, replacing the platform’s native WebKit engine. This feature is available for devices running iOS 17.4 or iPadOS 18, but major developers like Google and Mozilla have yet to fully leverage it.

In addition, the latest versions of iPadOS and iOS give users more control over managing system apps. Many of the default tools for calling, texting, and on-screen keyboards can now be removed, uninstalled, and replaced with third-party alternatives. By 2025, Apple plans to expand the range of native apps that can be uninstalled or replaced with alternatives.

However, Apple has no plans to port these changes to earlier versions of iPadOS. Third-party app store compatibility is exclusive to iPadOS 18, meaning older devices won’t support the feature. Currently, 77 percent of iPads sold in the last four years are running iPadOS 17, with 15 percent still running iPadOS 16, and eight percent running even earlier versions.