Many iPhone users have long asked for sideloading on their devices. It now seems that sideloading on iPhones could actually be enabled, but not everywhere.
After the EU adopted a regulation on the standardization of charger slots, every mobile phone in the markets of the member countries will have to comply with this rule. Surely, the biggest opponent is Apple and its stubborn insistence on the Lightning slot.
On the other hand, we’ve seen that the company has recently started sending signals that it could obey the EU regulations. This does not necessarily mean that the iPhone 15 will come with a USB-C slot. As the EU Commission has set a deadline of 2024, but analysts believe that Apple will do it earlier.
Will Apple enable Sideloading on iPhone, and where?
Fast forward, the EU made a new request to Apple. In order to make the market as fair as possible, the App Store could soon get competition. In particular, the EU requires Apple to allow other app stores access to the iPhone. And this could mean sideloading on iPhone.
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Good news is now coming from the US. iMore reports that Apple’s head of software Craig Federighi was a guest in a TV interview, and when asked by journalists about whether they will enable sideloading on the iPhone, he replied that Apple is working closely with the EU to comply with the regulations.
This can now be interpreted as an admission that Apple will indeed enable sideloading on the iPhone at some point in time. At least in the EU. But it is not clear whether this applies to the whole world, given that the regulations are not the same everywhere.
Apple is well-known for defying regulatory demands. But, when it comes to a more serious impact on its business, it adapts. The best example is the already mentioned USB-C slot. As well as the license to do business in China. Given there are even stricter rules than those in the EU.
So it could easily happen that sideloading on iPhone will be enabled only in the EU since it can be done in software. Unlike the USB-C slot, which would have to be physically embedded for only one market. How things will go with sideloading in other regions is not yet known.
