iOS 17.4 Beta Adds New App Verification Screen to App Store in EU [Updated]
Update — 10:09 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple says the App Store showing an app verification screen in the EU is a bug and will be fixed before iOS 17.4 is released to all users. Original story follows.
Starting with the latest iOS 17.4 beta, Apple asks iPhone users in the EU to verify an app's information before installing it from the App Store. The prompt was spotted by Dimitris Sartzetakis of @iSWUpdates and others.
iOS 17.4 will allow iPhone users in the EU to install apps from so-called "alternative app marketplaces," and the verification screen will appear in those storefronts too. Apple is likely aiming to avoid anticompetitive complaints by also showing the prompt in its own App Store, should it remain in the public release of iOS 17.4.
Apple previously announced that iOS 17.4 will be released in March, and the App Store changes only apply in the 27 countries that are part of the EU, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and others. Notably, the UK left the EU in 2020.
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Top Rated Comments
However, users can disable this: "Users can manage their default marketplace through a new default setting. Certain platform features for finding and using apps like Spotlight are integrated with a user’s default marketplace. App installation sheets are automatically turned off for installations from a user’s default marketplace."
Again, there’s no directive from the EU that Apple has to do this - this is solely Apple’s choice.
Scary? No. Annoying pain in the neck? Absolutely. But serves the EU right! They meddled in something they should've stayed out of and now there's a worse experience because of it. Saw that coming from a mile away!