iOS 17.4 Public Beta Released With New Emoji, Changes to App Store for EU Customers

iOS 17.4 is now rolling out to beta testers on the company’s public beta channel, a week after Apple rolled out the update to developers. The upcoming iOS update is expected to arrive in the coming weeks with several changes to how iOS works in specific countries. In order to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations, Apple will soon allow customers in the region to access third party app stores while opening up other parts of the operating system including NFC support for third party apps.

Apple began to roll out the iOS 17.4 public beta (21E5184k) on Tuesday and there are a few user-facing changes that are visible after updating to the latest version. Apple has updated the Stolen Device Protection feature — introduced with the iOS 17.3 update — with a new option that always requires a delay when changing security settings, ignoring when the phone is in familiar locations.

While users outside the EU won’t benefit from all of the changes coming to iOS 17.4, the update includes support for third-party app stores that can be installed on an iPhone, while browsers like Firefox and Chrome can support their own browser engine. Game streaming will also be allowed with iOS 17.4, while Apple Pay competitors will be able to use the NFC technology on the iPhone for contactless payments.

With iOS 17.4 Apple is including six new emoji — Broken Chain, Brown Mushroom, Head Shaking Horizontally, Head Shaking Vertically, Lime, and Phoenix Bird. These will be visible in apps and can be sent to other users via the system keyboard. The update also replaces the detailed family emoji with simplified versions, while emoji of moving characters are now shown with variations for different directions.

The Apple Podcasts app has also been updated with support for automatic transcriptions that are generated for an episode and displayed in the app, while the company has updated the Listen Now tab at the bottom of its podcasts app and the Apple Music app with a new label — Home. No other visual changes are visible on both apps.


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Apple Plans to Review Sideloaded iOS Apps, Charge Developers for Downloads Outside App Store: Report

Apple is expected to enable support for sideloading apps on iOS by March 6 to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), and details of the company’s plans to deal with the changes are now emerging. While the company is yet to announce when support for installing applications outside the App Store will be allowed in the EU, a report states that the company will set up processes to review — and possibly charge developers for — these apps.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple plans to enable support for sideloading iOS apps in the EU but will also implement new methods to review apps that are installed outside the App Store. While the iPhone maker currently has full control over how apps are distributed on its smartphones — including vetting and reviewing individual app updates — that is set to change in March when users in the EU will be able to install applications outside the App Store.

It is currently unclear how Apple will restrict apps that are not distributed outside the App Store, but the company uses a security mechanism called Gatekeeper that enforces code signing and download verification of apps downloaded outside the macOS App Store. Apple can technically revoke the certificates for malicious apps, preventing them from running on a user’s device. It is also unclear how Apple plans to review apps that are sideloaded by users on iOS.

The report also states that Apple is considering charging developers for apps sideloaded outside the App Store. The iPhone maker collects between 27 percent to 30 percent of all app purchases and in-app purchases (IAPs) on the App Store, and the company is expected to lose out on the revenue from app developers who choose to distribute their apps outside the App Store.

It remains to be seen whether Apple will enable support for sideloading with the arrival of iOS 17.4 in the coming weeks or whether the functionality can be enabled with the existing code on iOS 17.3 that was rolled out earlier this week. As the DMA deadline approaches, we can expect to learn more about Apple’s plans to deal with iOS app sideloading in the EU in the coming weeks. 


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