Apple is widely famous for its features-enriched smartphones, more often known as iPhones. The tech giant has recently announced a policy for users who will travel outside the European Union. If an iPhone user leaves the EU for 30 days or more, he or she will not be able to update their applications, installed from third-party sources. Consequently, they will be unable to access the new features that will be integrated into such apps until they come back to the European Union.
The EU’s Digital Markets Act
Apple has announced this new policy because of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), launched by the European Union. The DMA has been launched recently and is playing the primary role in regulating the behaviors of the large tech companies inside the EU market. As a result, it will ensure a fair competition level among different enterprises. Also, it can protect the consumers from getting into any sort of trouble. Apple, being one of the biggest tech players in the European Union market, has been impacted by these regulations.
As soon as the DMA is implemented, Apple has created a support page for the users in which it has mentioned some of the potential limitations. The notice has stated that users who will go outside the EU for short travels will lose access to certain features of the apps installed from third-party sources. While the specifics are unclear, Apple is expected to provide further clarifications.
Grace Period
Apple has now come up with the announcement that iPhone users will not be able to update the apps from third-party app stores if they leave the EU for more than 30 days. Consequently, people will be unable to utilize the potential of new features and infrastructures that will be integrated into the app. The grace period of 30 days may seem normal for people who travel for shorter durations. On the other hand, iPhone users, who often have to go outside of the EU, may find this 30-day grace period quite inconvenient.
Implications
While Apple has announced these details, it is necessary for iPhone users to update all of their third-party apps to the latest version available. In this way, they can find it easier to use them even when they are outside the EU. Although the new updates are not available for third-party applications, people can still use the current version of the apps they have installed on their mobiles.
Future Prospects
Apple has announced this new policy with the primary purpose of restricting the grey-market iPhones. Without these restrictions, there are chances that the iPhones will be purchased from the EU market and then imported to other regions. The enforcement of this policy will make sure that Apple maintains control over its ecosystem to prevent the unauthorized and unofficial distribution of its software.
