Apple Allows Epic Games to Open Its Own App Store in the EU

 n August 2020, Apple stopped Epic Games from using its developer accounts. This was because of a big disagreement over how the iOS App Store works. Now, over three years later, Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, got its Apple developer account back. This is thanks to new rules in the EU.

Epic Games said on Friday that they can now work on making the Epic Games Store for iOS devices. They plan to open it in 2024. The store and Fortnite in Europe will be run by Epic Games Sweden AB. The team there will lead the work.

The problem started when Apple kicked out Epic Games because they didn't agree on the App Store's rules. Epic Games couldn't put Fortnite or other apps on Apple's devices after that.

But things have changed in the European Union. A new rule called the Digital Markets Act made Apple change. Now, Apple has to let other companies make their own app stores for iOS in the EU.

Epic Games and others still think Apple controls too much. Even Epic's boss, Tim Sweeney, wasn't sure if Apple would let them have their own app store in the EU. According to Apple's rules, they still have to say it's okay for these other app stores to work.

Last month, Sweeney said Apple might stop Epic Games from opening its store or block other companies from doing the same.

Photo: Digital Information World - AIgen

Apple Blames Poor Functioning Of iPhone Web Apps In The EU On The Stringent Digital Markets Act

 Tech giant Apple is causing concern after its iPhone web applications in the EU were malfunctioning across user devices.

Many assumed it was a serious bug that needed a fix but new reports are proving otherwise.

These progressive web applications found across the EU had many citizens complaining about how they were not functioning correctly after being installed in some recent iOS beta versions.

Apple was seen updating its respective websites to give out a justification on this front and why users were facing issues across the board. It’s not a huge surprise because the company mentioned how the ordeal has nothing to do with it but in fact, has opted to blame the matter on the stringent Digital Markets Act.

They feel the complexities involved are massive and one contributing reason has to do with enabling various browser engines to function that is why we’re seeing the matter unfold to begin with.

To keep you better updated on this front, the company came under fire when one top security researcher was quick to see PWAs being demoted through various webpage shortcuts through the release of iOS 17.4. It’s not quite clear if this was a real beta bug or if this was done to undermine any functionality of these respective PWAs across the European Union.

Apple is being forced to enable alternative app stores to function in this part of the globe, not to mention payments arising from third parties and other browser engines coming into play. In such betas, these PWAs are known for typically enabling web applications to function and they feel more like their native iOS applications weren’t working.

In such experiments, PWAs are designed to enable web apps to work normally and feel like they’ve been designed to ensure the platforms feel like they work like native Apple applications. But in this particular case, it just was not working. So this did not go unnoticed by the masses.

Developers saw how such web apps were functioning like bookmarks that happened to be saved across the Home Screen.

As reported by tech giant MacRumors, the latest update for iOS 16.4 enabled PWAs to showcase icons with alerts, similar to how native apps were functioning.

In the latest update by the firm, it says that the systems have been modified instead of the DMA.

Photo: DIW- AI-gen

AI Images And Deepfakes Displaying Child Abuse Could Be Criminalized, EU Confirms

 The EU is gearing up to criminalize serious offenses such as the display of child abuse through AI imagery and deepfakes.

The country’s regulatory bodies have been calling it an act that was a long time coming, especially because so many laws continue to spring up as a means of curbing the matter and the rise in tech developments.

In the same way, it’s making proposals linked to calling the act of showcasing child abuse through livestreams a criminal offense as well. They are also making ways to ban the exchange of pedophile manuals as they would be called a criminal offense under this plan.

This is said to be a part of a wide plan regarding measures of the EU which hopes to boost such laws and more in the future. The online risks are serious in this case and from what we’re seeing right now, it’s getting more difficult for users to curb the matter while victims are finding it harder to report such crimes.

Right now, the proposal in question goes back to 2011 and it has seen a major upgrade than what came about in the past. In 2022, the Commission spoke about rolling out technologies for the right detection of child abuse across various platforms.

The CSAM scanning plan has been said to be a very controversial ordeal and that’s probably why we’re seeing many lawmakers speak against tech giants who are not taking the right measures and curbing such acts.

The decision to keep such acts as a leading priority has gotten a lot of criticism many times as experts and lawmakers mentioned how there is not enough focus being done in the right area. There is a lot of pressure coming from all directions and the matter is said to be controversial.

There has been a lot of controversy in terms of private message scans and how deepfakes continue to be at an all-time high. Child abuse is really something that the tech world has been struggling with for years. And now that AI has entered the picture, it’s going from bad to worse.

The plan involves identifying those who are at risk and which content is real and which is fake.

The commission stressed the growth in tech developments and the many possibilities taking center stage. This means the need for greater scrutiny is more now than ever.

Photo: Digital Information World - AIgen