iOS 17.4 marked a milestone by allowing alternative app stores to the App Store, among other changes imposed by the EU’s Digital Markets Act. The iPad was initially considered a separate platform, so these changes were not applied. However, they will eventually be implemented in iPadOS 18.
A few weeks ago, the European Union set a deadline for Apple to adapt iPadOS to the DMA rules. This deadline ends at the end of the year, and it seems that Apple will comply in September with the launch of iPadOS 18, whose second beta already supports alternative stores.
iPadOS will also incorporate alternative stores and the ability to download apps from the Internet
Apple has recently released a new series of betas, including iOS 18 beta 2 with its interesting new features, and iPadOS 18 beta 2, which also introduces support for alternative app stores to the App Store. Stores like Setapp can now be installed, and will be officially available with this new version.
In addition to third-party stores, iPadOS will offer the option to download apps directly from the Internet, make alternative payments, and choose a default browser other than Safari. This means that the first time Safari is opened, the system will offer a list of alternative browsers which are: Aloha, Brave, Chrome, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Edge, Firefox, Onion Browser, Opera, Safari and Vivaldi.
iPadOS 18 will also bring new features such as customization of the home screen, allowing you to freely place and color icons, an editable Control Center, the new Passwords app, the Calculator app and a redesign of the Photos application, in addition to the changes required by the EU Digital Markets Act.
It’s worth noting that iPadOS 18 is still in development for developers, but the public beta will be available next month, probably during the second week of July. This will allow anyone interested in testing it and helping to iron out bugs before its official release, to do so.
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