After a lot of pressure from the European Union and other governments around the world, it seems that Apple is for the first time considering making deep changes to iOS and the App Store. According to a Bloomberg report, the company is planning to open up even more iOS functionality to third-party apps, including the browser engine and NFC.
In recent years, Apple has considerably loosened the restrictions in iOS when it comes to what third-party developers can have access to. For instance, apps can now interact with Siri, read NFC tags, provide alternative keyboards, and more. But still, there are a lot of other restrictions – but these may not last much longer.
Apple to open up its private APIs to developers
Bloomberg has heard from sources familiar with the matter that Apple has been working to open up its private application programming interfaces, also known as APIs, to third-party developers and apps. This would result in a significant change in how iOS works.
One of the main restrictions that could soon be scrapped is related to browser engines. Currently, every iOS app must use WebKit, which is Apple’s engine that runs Safari. But to comply with the new Digital Markets Act in the European Union, Apple is already working to open up iOS to other browser engines.
The report also mentions that other private iOS APIs will also be made public in the future. This includes access to more camera controls and the iPhone’s NFC chip. Although third-party apps can currently read NFC tags, Apple prohibits them from working as a competitor to Apple Pay. The EU has already criticized Apple for restricting the NFC technology in the iPhone to its own services.
In addition to these changes, Apple is also reportedly discussing opening up the Find My network even further to third-party accessories. While third-party manufacturers can already make their accessories compatible with the Find My network, competitors like Tile claim that there are still many disadvantages compared to Apple’s own accessories like AirTag.
Deep changes coming to the App Store
Bloomberg also reported that Apple is getting ready to let iPhone and iPad users install apps through alternative app stores for iOS. This would allow developers to officially distribute iOS apps outside of the App Store for the first time.
However, at the same time, the report claims that Apple has no plans to make iMessage compatible with other platforms, or even to adopt the RCS standard.
It’s uncertain when all these changes will be rolled out to the public, but some of them could launch as soon as next year with iOS 17.
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