Enlarge / The iPhone 15 lineup.

To comply with European Union regulations, Apple has introduced sweeping changes that make iOS and Apple's other operating systems more open. The changes are far-reaching and touch many parts of the user experience on the iPhone. They'll be coming as part of iOS 17.4 in March.

Apple will introduce "new APIs and tools that enable developers to offer their iOS apps for download from alternative app marketplaces," as well as a new framework and set of APIs that allow third parties to set up and manage those stores—essentially new forms of apps that can download other apps without going through the App Store. That includes the ability to manage updates for other developers' apps that are distributed through the marketplaces.

The company will also offer APIs and a new framework for third-party web browsers to use browser engines other than Safari's WebKit. Until now, browsers like Chrome and Firefox were still built on top of Apple's tech. They essentially were mobile Safari, but with bookmarks and other features tied to alternative desktop browsers.

Enlarge / Mozilla's current logo for Firefox. (credit: Mozilla )

Companies like Google, Mozilla, and Microsoft have versions of their web browsers on Apple's iOS and iPadOS App Stores, but these versions come with a big caveat: The App Store rules require them to use Safari's WebKit rendering engine rather than the engines those browsers use in other operating systems.

But that could be changing. According to The Register, Google and Mozilla have recently been spotted working on versions of Chromium and Firefox that use their normal Blink and Gecko rendering engines, respectively.

Apple hasn't announced any rule changes. The correlated activity from Google and Mozilla could suggest that they're expecting Apple to drop its restrictions on third-party browser engines in the near future, or the companies could simply be hedging their bets. Regulatory pressure from multiple governments is pushing Apple in the direction of loosening many of its App Store restrictions, including (begrudgingly) accepting third-party payment services and sideloading of apps and third-party app stores .

Enlarge / Apple HQ in Cupertino, California. (credit: Anadolu Agency | Financial Times )

Employees across Apple are working on changes to iOS that would open the iPhone to apps outside Apple's App Store, a report in Bloomberg claims. Citing people familiar with the efforts, the article claims that Apple is attempting to take action by 2024, in response to regulations from the European Union, such as the Digital Markets Act. In fact, the changes could go wide as soon as the release of iOS 17 late next year.

This would mark a dramatic shift from Apple's long-standing position that third-party app stores and sideloading apps from outside the App Store would pose security and privacy risks for iPhone owners. However, Apple is exploring ways to limit users' exposure to potentially malicious apps. For example, the company is discussing the possibility of still requiring outside apps to be "verified" by Apple, with specific security requirements.

Some version of that approach might look something like the situation on the Mac, where you can install any app you want, but you have to jump through some hoops to install something that Apple hasn't verified.