According to Bloomberg industry insider Mark Gurman, the Apple App Store is set to undergo major changes. Following EU interventions – which led to Apple allowing alternative app stores on its devices – a second App Store team will take care of apps from other sources.
“Apple colleague” Phil Schiller, who heads the App Store, will split the current App Store team into two teams. In addition, Matt Fischer – who was Vice President of the App Store and Apple Arcade – is leaving the company after a very long tenure. Fischer announced his departure with a warm trip down memory lane and welcomed the two people who would take over the newly created teams.
It stands to reason that this second team will only be required for the EU, where Apple has been forced to allow alternative sources for downloading apps. How exactly this team will handle alternative downloads is not yet known. If I had to guess, in addition to ensuring the safety of apps from certain stores, the team could also be responsible for educating users on how to stay safe when downloading those apps.
EU users can now download games from other stores. Creepy. | Image credit — PhoneArena
After several other defeats against the EU, Apple is currently not bringing Apple Intelligence to the region. This, in my opinion, makes the upcoming iPhone 16 much less desirable in the EU compared to other markets. Especially because AI will be such an important part iPhone16 that Apple is incorporating AI into its sales pitch.
iPhones have been among the best phones ever made for many years. But recent developments could mean that the EU's experience with Apple products in the future is very different.