Apple is not happy right now. Over the years, its app store has been the sole provider of iOS apps. However, according to new EU regulations, Apple was forced to allow third-party app stores on iOS. Shortly after the news of Setapp coming to iOS in the EU, another app store alternative just popped up called mobivention.
Until now, Apple has been the only company to distribute iOS apps. This caused the EU to see Apple as a gatekeeper. Apple controls how much developers have to pay to host their apps and use its payment system. This also means that there’s zero competition for other stores to offer their own services. This does not sit well with the EU, and it’s forcing Apple to open up iOS to potential competition. So, eventually, other companies will be able to post iOS apps and provide their own experiences for downloading apps.
The jury is still out on how this whole situation is going to go down. The EU forced Apple to make changes to iOS to facilitate third-party app stores. However, the company proposed policy changes that would ultimately hurt third-party app stores rather than help them. This caused people like Mark Zuckerberg and Phil Spencer to call Apple out publicly.
Apple was given until March 7th to make the changes, so, on March 7th, we will see if the EU is happy with these changes. If not, then Apple faces some pretty substantial fines.
mobivention will be a new Apple App Store alternative
In case you don’t know what mobivention is, it is an IT service provider for app development and backends. It was founded back in 2003, so this business is not exactly a newcomer. It may seem odd that the company is looking to make an app store until you realize the kind of apps that it’s going to offer.
The mobivention app store is not really going to be for hosting General apps and games like the iOS App Store. Rather, it seems like it’s going to offer apps for B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-customer) services. So, these apps will be business-oriented rather than for fun.
The company didn’t explain too much about the kind of apps and services it is going to offer. In its announcement post, the company mostly took shots at the industry. It made references to gatekeeper companies that hold the reins to many of our online and mobile experiences.
So, the mobivention app store will launch on iOS on March 7th in Europe, as soon as the EU’s regulation goes into effect. As for how popular this app store is going to be, that remains to be seen. However, it is nice to see other companies stepping up to add variety to the iOS app ecosystem.