Epic Games has claimed that Apple's revised installation process for third-party app marketplaces in the EU demonstrates that the company was deliberately undermining competition through "deceptive design."
In a blog post published Wednesday, the Fortnite developer revealed that user drop-offs during Epic Games Store installations plummeted from 65% to 25% after Apple streamlined the process in iOS 18.6. Apple reduced the installation flow from 15 steps to six and eliminated what Epic called "scare screens" that warned users about potential dangers of installing apps outside the App Store.
"For the first time, we are starting to see iOS users install the Epic Games Store with a success rate approaching Windows users and Apple's own Mac users," Epic said.
The changes came after the European Commission raised concerns in April that Apple made it "overly burdensome and confusing" for users to install alternative app distribution channels under the Digital Markets Act.
Image: Epic
Despite the improvements, Epic said Apple's policies remain anti-competitive, citing "junk fees" such as the Core Technology Fee, "discriminatory policies" against developers who support competing stores, and an approval and notarization process that "dictate[s] product design decisions to competing app developers and store developers."
Epic also criticized Google's 12-step installation process on Android, which remains in place, claiming it sabotages Epic Games Store installations more than 50% of the time.
Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28.
The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station.
According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
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The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
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Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon.
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Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.2, the second major update to the macOS Tahoe operating system that came out in September. macOS Tahoe 26.2 comes five weeks after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.1.
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As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
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Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21.
There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
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Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...
They call them scare screens, I call them informative. In this world of hackers, spam and identify theft, I think it is perfectly reasonable for Apple to remind users that stepping outside of the domain presents risks. That’s not scary, that’s responsible.
It is an absolute fact that without Apple's gatekeeping, there is a higher risk of installing god-knows-what. Simple.
Anybody seeking to, aware of, needing to, wanting to install a third party app-store knows what they're doing. Warnings only tell them what they know.
If they don't, then this might rightfully make them think twice, check with a friend or double check they're installing something safe.
This is very real... We're talking stalker apps, financial scams, identity theft, blackmail from stealing and leaking private data from unsuspecting peoples phones. All because rogue apps can now run free. It does happen on Android...Windows...macOS... don't underestimate the volumes of normal every day people pressing yes to things and never thinking twice about lag, or weird behaviours or even the webcam light being on...
I worked in a phone store in 2014 and the amount of older people who fell victim to accidental clicks that signed them up to old ringtone and wallpapers programs that added $5 a month to their phone bill was not small.
It will only be so long before other store apps do similar on phones and try to autobill though ApplePay...
The screens prevent people making complex technical decisions that could lead to them being exploited. The only thing being sabotaged is Tim Sweeney's bottom line. If there was an award for whiniest CEO, it would be a close one between him and Spotify's Daniel Ek.
Scare screens should be scary and should be there. As far as core technology fees, I suggest Epic check the costs on developing, marketing, and supporting its own OS and development framework.
