This is how Apple wants to minimize the risks arising from downloads in alternative app stores

[tasnimsanika00]

The European Union (EU) has forced Apple to authorize the download of apps on the iPhone through alternative app stores . However, and aware of the risk that this entails, the Apple company will analyze the apps downloaded in alternative "marketplaces" with the ultimate goal of detecting possible security risks. This is what the Cupertino company specifies in a report published last Friday.

According to the report , even though users can download apps from alternative app stores, only those apps that Apple has approved from a security perspective can be installed on the iPhone.

As part of the process, Apple will check, among other things, whether apps contain false information about their features and capabilities , whether they pretend to be other apps, or whether they harbor hidden, dormant, or undocumented features within their core.

The company led by Tim Cook will also examine apps downloaded from its rivals' stores to check whether the applications make it clear to the user why exactly they want to have access to data sources managed from the iOS operating system such as the microphone, camera, photo gallery or location.

Apple will intercept applications that could result in physical harm to users
Until now, iPhone users could only install apps via Apple's App Store. Under the EU' cameroon whatsapp data s Digital Markets Act (DMA), large, dominant providers, which Brussels defines as "gatekeepers," must authorize other providers' app stores on their domains. And Apple has the label of "gatekeeper," according to the EU.

As a general rule, Apple will not monitor the content of apps on alternative app stores and will not take action against pornography or drug-taking instructions, for example. The company will, however, intervene if it comes across apps that are malicious in nature and could potentially cause physical harm to users. Apple will, for example, intercept apps that focus on challenges that lead users to endanger themselves or others or, in the most extreme cases, persuade them to commit suicide.

These safeguards will make the experience of iPhone users in the European Union as secure and private as possible, Apple stresses.

In its report, Apple notes that rival Google also allows apps to be downloaded outside the official Play Store on Android phones, but it describes this practice (also known as “slideloading”) as risky. In fact, in its “Advanced Protection Program” for journalists, activists, businesses and political leaders, Google prevents “slideloading” to prevent potentially dangerous downloads. And those who take part in this program can only download apps from verified stores such as the Play Store or the app stores of mobile device manufacturers.