Apple’s iOS 17.4 goes live this week: side-loading feature is here

According to media reports, the official version of iOS 17.4 will be massively pushed next week, and EU users will experience the new side-loading features.

It is reported that iOS 17.4 new features include Apple allows users to download and pay for apps in third-party app stores, allows third-party browsers on the iPhone to use their own web engines, and Apple has also reduced commission draws, with all of the above adjustments limited to the EU.

Before pushing iOS 17.4 to the public, Apple released a 60-page whitepaper, in which Apple said it "has done its best to provide the most secure smartphone for users in the European Union, but it's not as secure as iPhones in other regions".

Apple said that in order to comply with the EU's Digital Marketplace Act, users can download in third-party app stores, using alternative payment methods to complete transactions, which means that the built-in security features of Apple's App Store will be invalidated, and if they are lured by malicious apps, users need to bear the corresponding risk.

Industry insiders say, side load is Apple's "historic reform", but also since the birth of the App Store in 2008, Apple for the first time for the opening of three-way downloads to make concessions.

Apple CEO Cook believes that after allowing sideloading, Apple may not be able to maximize the protection of user privacy, but they will still try to "focus on privacy, security and usability".