Apple puts standard apps in App Store

Apple has placed the preinstalled iPhone apps in the App Store and is thus responding to criticism of its business model. However, the apps cannot be deleted so far.

Safari, Camera and Co in the App Store

The fact that the preinstalled apps can now also be found in the App Store is mainly symbolic due to the still missing deletion option – but not exclusively. For example, it will be possible for the first time to view the privacy ratings of the apps and to rate them. The age rating will also be visible.

With this step, Apple is likely to react to regulatory efforts and the associated criticism of its business model. For example, a bill was introduced in the USA that would force large companies like Apple and Google to offer users the option of deleting preinstalled apps. The posting of these in the app store can certainly be understood as preparation for such a deletion function.

However, the now implemented placement in the app store is not a completely new advance. With the update to iOS 12, for example, Apple created the possibility of deleting some of the preinstalled apps – specifically: the Mail, Maps and Notes apps – and then downloading them again via the App Store.

Distortion of competition?

Criticism has come not only from politicians, but also from developers at other companies, who point out that the market conditions for Apple’s in-house apps are significantly better than those of third-party companies. This objection can hardly be dismissed out of hand: The apps are not only preinstalled and thus predestined as a low-threshold solution, but are also partly subject to other classification standards. The Safari browser in the app store, for example, is approved for users over the age of four, while all other browsers are classified as 17+ because they allow free access to the Internet with all the content available there.