Apple is looking forward to making concessions to the European Union by allowing users in the region to change default applications and even uninstall particular pre-installed applications.
Undoubtedly, Apple has its own policies for its ecosystem, but to accept the demands of the EU, it has to make changes. This marks a departure from the company’s historically closed ecosystem, likely in response to the EU’s Digital Market Act.
To accept the demand from the EU, Apple officially announced that soon iPhone and iPad users in the EU will have the ability to change default applications and also uninstall pre-installed applications. Apple will offer a Choice Screen to set the default web browser. By the end of this year, Apple could offer the option to change default applications through a pop-up screen during the initial setup for iPhone and iPad users.
The latest software updates, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, will bring a new Default Apps section in Settings in the EU. This means that users will get new default settings for dialing phone numbers, sending messages, translating text, navigation, managing passwords, keyboards, and spam filters.
For users in the EU, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 will also include a new Default Apps section in Settings that lists defaults available to each user. In future software updates, users will get new default settings for dialing phone numbers, sending messages, translating text, navigation, managing passwords, keyboards, and call spam filters.
Additionally, the App Store, Messages, Photos, Camera, and Safari apps will now be deletable for users in the EU.
Noticeably, users can easily uninstall the pre-loaded Apple applications, including Safari, App Store, Photos, Camera, and iMessage. The only key reason behind this step is that the company is facing scrutiny from the European Union for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA) with its previous Choice Screen implementation.
The DMA warrants that users should have enough freedom to choose their default applications, and Apple’s updated Choice Screen now permits this.
