Is Apple looking for an alternative to the App Store? What does the company intend to do?

Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, hinted at looking for an alternative to the App Store during a live broadcast of journalist John Gruber's podcast, 9To5Mac-reports.

An alternative to the App Store on the iPhone was expected to arrive immediately in iOS 17. However, Apple did not mention this feature either during WWDC23 or added the feature in the beta version of the new operating system.

At the same time, the ability to download applications on the iPhone through a platform other than the App Store should appear in iOS by the beginning of next year, so that Apple's smartphones can meet the requirements of European legislation.

During the podcast, Federighi did not directly answer the question of when the App Store alternative will appear on iOS. However, he said the company is working on it and wants to make sure it does the right thing for users. At the same time, Federighi said that Apple is working with the EU and discussing the compliance of its solutions with EU requirements.

9To5Mac believes that Apple will not reveal details about the system for downloading applications from third-party sources until the release of iOS 17, which will take place in the fall of 2023, along with the release of new iPhones.