Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tim Sweeney‚ the CEO of Epic Games‚ has a lot to say about the changes Apple made to its App Store in the European Union. In a lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter)‚ Sweeney calls the update “a new instance of Malicious Compliance” — or‚ in layman’s terms‚ “hot garbage.” This afternoon‚ Apple announced it would allow sideloading‚ alternative app stores‚ and third-party browser engines on the iPhone with the rollout of iOS 17.4 this March. The company will also open up the App Store to game streaming services‚ and will finally allow developers to use alternative in-app payment options. Apple made the changes to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA)‚ which requires large tech companies to follow a strict set of rules aimed at... Continue reading…

Alongside the drastic changes coming to the EU with iOS 17.4‚ Apple is also adding new emojis for iPhone users. Once iOS 17.4 is available to everyone in March‚ you'll be able to use new emojis. As revealed last year‚ Emojipedia announced 108 new emojis‚ including skin tone modifiers and gender variants. The new emojis include a lime‚ shaking heads‚ a phoenix‚ and four new gender-neutral family emojis intended to be represented via silhouettes. Interestingly‚ some of the new additions differ from what Emojipedia envisioned. At the time‚ the company said it depended on each vendor as to whether or not to follow the design directive the company was giving. “These new direction-specifying emojis are all versions of pre-existing people emojis‚ but with the addition of explicitly stated directionality‚" said the site last year. The original draft for the new emojis coming with iOS 17.4 Image source: Emojipedia Although Apple has been adding fewer emojis with each new release‚ I'm sure you'll love to use the head shaking vertically and horizontally‚ as these are the cutest additions. Like in iOS 17.4‚ Apple added over 20 new emojis for users in iOS 16.4. Besides this change‚ the company is expanding the "Siri" call to more languages‚ previously only available in English. In addition‚ Apple is making important changes in how users and developers can take advantage of iOS in the European Union. Starting in March‚ there will be major changes to the App Store‚ including developer fees‚ third-party payment options‚ and sideloading apps. BGR will keep reporting on the latest iOS 17.4 news as soon as we learn more about them. Below‚ you can find the most crucial changes for European users coming with this operating system update. Don't Miss: Apple announces iPhone sideloading‚ third-party payments‚ and more for EU The post iOS 17.4 adds new emojis for iPhone – these are my two favorites appeared first on BGR. Trending Right Now: Here’s every iPhone model Apple has ever released

iOS users in Europe will be able to download Fortnite on iOS later this year. The move will come as Epic Games prepares to release the highly acclaimed video game through its own Epic Games Store app on iOS devices. For those who haven't followed the ongoing saga of Epic Games and Apple's App Store showdown‚ the massive video game was removed from iOS back in 2020‚ when Epic decided to try to skirt Google and Apple's 30 percent commissions on micro-transactions by introducing its own payment system into the app. Now‚ almost four years later‚ Epic Games is finally making some headway in what has been a long and arduous ordeal for the company. The progress made here will allow Epic to re-release Fortnite on iOS‚ but through its own app store‚ Epic revealed on X (formerly Twitter). https://twitter.com/FortniteGame/status/1750616130174234859 This move is only made possible thanks to new rulings in Europe via the Digital Markets Act (DMA)‚ which essentially says that companies like Apple can't "gatekeep" the apps that can be installed on your app to just the App Store‚ thus allowing Epic to forego the App Store entirely and offer its own app to download Fortnite through. The exact date of when Fortnite on iOS will be released is unclear at the moment. Despite this very small victory for the company‚ Epic CEO‚ Tim Sweeney‚ took to Twitter to discuss Epic's ongoing fight against the gatekeeping that Apple has been practicing for several decades at this point. This story is still developing‚ but for the moment‚ it seems the return of Fortnite on iOS is imminent‚ though a bit complicated‚ at least for those in Europe. Whether or not it will ever see another release in the U.S. and other places remains to be seen‚ as Apple is still sticking to its guns in the fight to keep developers from releasing apps and app stores outside of its own. Don't Miss: First photo of SLIM lander on lunar surface reveals why it’s having problems The post Fortnite is finally coming back to iOS via the new Epic Games Store app‚ but only in Europe appeared first on BGR. Trending Right Now: Here’s every iPhone model Apple has ever released

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