Following the alternative to Google Play in the form of the mobile Android application market RuStore from VK, Russia may develop an alternative to the App Store for iOS device owners.
The initiative was taken by the "Digital Platforms" Autonomous Non-Profit Organization, according to Izvestia. In May 2022, it launched the NashStore mobile Android application store. Now, under the same name, "Digital Platforms" plans to create a Russian application store for the iOS operating system.
Legislatively, the Russian authorities may oblige Apple to allow the installation of alternative application stores on iPhones and the downloading of applications from them. According to the publication, as of 2023, such an antimonopoly bill was ready in the Ministry of Digital Development and was in the process of being finalized.
Similar measures against market monopolization towards Apple and other large technology corporations have already been adopted in the European Union - this is the Digital Markets Act (DMA). According to it, large online platforms must allow users to delete any pre-installed programs and stop presenting their own products in their platforms as a priority. In the case of Apple, the company must, from March 7, 2024, allow the operation of third-party marketplaces and applications on iOS in Europe.
However, they came up with a solution: to create a European segment of the App Store for third-party applications. For users from other countries, it is planned to leave the second version - conditionally speaking, the usual App Store without alternative applications and programs. For this, the company will have to create a mechanism that will determine which operator the "apple" devices have and where they are located territorially.
As Arseniy Shcheltsin, General Director of the "Digital Platforms" Autonomous Non-Profit Organization, noted in a conversation with a representative of Izvestia, he believes that "regional restrictions can be circumvented if such stores do not become available in the Russian Federation." To do this, you will simply need to select one of the European countries as the region for activating the iOS device.
However, experts note that if Apple suddenly calculates the location of the device by geolocation, Wi-Fi networks, IP address and other parameters, then it will be impossible to circumvent the restrictions. Therefore, it will be possible to talk about whether other marketplaces for iOS will work in Russia only after their official launch in Europe.