Under the changes, the US tech company will also give iPhone users a range of browsers to choose from as their default, allow the use of alternative payment systems to Apple Pay, and permit the installation of alternatives to its App Store, which could theoretically include the Google Play store. But there is a catch: for the first time, developers who take advantage of the option will be charged a flat fee per installation, overturning free-to-play business models and limiting the sorts of apps that can bypass the store.
Apple has long argued that its strict control of the iOS platform and the App Store is fundamentally paternalistic, rather than authoritarian. It says that a world in which iPhones worked like Macs would be one with more scams, viruses and consumer harms. The EU says, effectively: We'll take that risk. Hence the company's begrudging new plans.
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