Apple’s Worst Security Scare: iOS 17.2 Update Unleashed!

Apple is all set to release the new iOS 17.2 update to iPhone users in the coming weeks, and information about the new version suggests that big changes are on the way. One thing we can say about a few of these changes is that Apple may be seriously worried about what it’s going to offer iPhone users with the new version.

According to reports and details from 9to5Mac, Apple may be giving in to pressure from the European Union and allowing other app stores to run on the iPhone via sideloading apps.

If anyone has been following the battle between Apple and EU regulators, the former is being forced to comply with the new Digital Markets Act (DMA), which imposes a series of changes to provide fair competition for all tech companies.

Apple has been staunchly opposed to allowing iPhone users to sideload apps, but new lines of code in the iOS 17.2 beta, the report notes, suggest that those practices will change, which will be a major security nightmare for the company. Interestingly, only hints in the code suggest that iOS will get support for sideloading apps, so it’s likely that Apple could be planning a big change in the near future, possibly with iOS 17.2.1 or later iterations.

Apple has stayed away from opening up iOS to other app stores, but one of the terms of the EU’s DMA is that users can install apps from any app store, including those that aren’t compatible with the device. The company will have a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure that sideloading apps doesn’t affect the iPhone’s performance in the worst way.

We all know that Android has always supported sideloading of apps, but the success of the feature has been limited, especially since the nature of these third-party apps installed on phones has been difficult to track.

The severity of the problem has even forced Google to impose a security audit on all side-loaded apps, which is true to some extent, but then privacy advocates claim that the company is trying to control these efforts as well. The EU finally forced Apple to introduce USB C for iPhones, and it remains to be seen how sideloading apps on the iPhone will play out.