After complying with the Digital Markets Act and opening up its iPhone App Store to sideloading and third-party marketplaces earlier this year, Apple is about to make even more changes for users in the European Union.
According to a blog post, Apple will be making changes to the browser choice screen, default apps, and app removal for iPhone and iPad users in the EU.
Apple says the browser choice screen will show iPhone and iPad users additional information about the web browsers available to them, as well as detailed performance data.
iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 add a new Default apps section to Settings that lists all default apps available to the user, and Apple says that the upcoming update will provide users with new default settings for dialing phone numbers, sending messages, translating text, navigation, managing passwords, the keyboard, and call spam filters.
Apple also revealed that EU users will be able to remove the App Store, Messages, Photos, Camera and Safari apps. Currently, users can remove some default apps, but it is not possible to remove Messages, App Store, etc. Apple claims that removing them would break their integration with the system. It seems that Apple has found a way to separate these apps from the system.
It's worth noting that Apple will soon offer the same level of customization on the iPad as it does on the iPhone, as the European Commission has determined that iPadOS actually doubles as gatekeeping software.
Recently, Apple has also changed the rules for its App Store and third-party marketplaces for European users, with more changes likely to come: The company may have to stop charging the core technology fee that developers pay if they choose to offer their apps outside of the App Store.